Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:
by The Blue Time Ranger
Summary: What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair, but it's about to get even more complicated. One day while out on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and, oddly, this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel the mystery before something goes horribly wrong?
1. Link Start to Adventure

She stood there, just letting the breeze flow by.

Even if the breeze was just virtual, it felt real to her.

As petals rained down from the tree she stood under, she thought about all of the adventures she had been on lately. Everything they had been through together.

Honestly, she was surprised that they had come this far. Despite all the trials and all the tribulations, here they were. Standing firmly against the odds.

Speaking of which, where _was_ he? It wasn't like him to be late.

As she gazed towards the great World Tree in the distance, she saw a flutter of wings approaching her spot.

Took him long enough, she thought.

As he touched down, already stammering apologies about being held up, she just smiled and waved to him, signaling she most likely knew what had held him up.

After all, the next raid was soon, and they were as enthusiastic as ever to kick some monster faces in.

He walked up to her and extended his hand, which she eagerly took into her own.

Together, they broke out into a run down the fields before leaping into the air, unfolding their wings, and taking off into the skies of ALfheim Online.

No matter where they flew, or how fast they went, no matter what monsters got in their way and were easily dispatched...

...she never let go of his hand.

She had promised, after all. He had, too.

They would never, _ever_ , let go of each other. That was their oath.

And they had both promised to carry that oath until the end of their days.

* * *

(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)

 **The Blue Time Ranger** is proud to present...  
 _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:  
_ **Story Created:** January 24th, 2018  
 **Story Rated:** T for Teen

 **Story Summary:** What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?

 **Author's Note:** Yep, once again, I'm "redoing" a story, but this time's a bit different. I liked what I did with the original Memory Rosario, even though there are a _lot_ of things I wish I _had_ done better, like how I incorporated Death Gun as the villains. We're gonna do that here, with a re-do that I don't intend to replace the original with.

 **Timeline Placement** : Like before, it's a slight AU because my OC's involved, but this story takes place before the end of the Mother's Rosario arc (light novel volume 7 and episodes 18-24 of Sword Art Online II), specifically between Asuna reconciling with her mother and Yuuki's passing. The only change to canon that I'm making is that, like what the Gameverse seems to be doing, Yuuki's condition actually improved enough to be much better treatable.

 **Theme Song Notes:** Since I can't post the opening and ending sequences anymore so I won't get my stuff axed, the opening theme is "Ashita no Kimi sae Ireba Ii" by ChouCho (the opening theme to Imouto sae Ireba Ii. [A Sister's All You Need]) and the ending theme is "Donna Hoshizora yori mo, Donna Omoide yori mo" by Aira Yuuki (the ending theme to Imouto sae Ireba Ii. [A Sister's All You Need]).

 **And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I _did_ own Sword Art Online, which I _don't_ , why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

* * *

Episode 1: Link Start Into Adventure

 _March 16_ _th_ _, 2026, 4:55 PM..._

It was a truly beautiful day.

Nick Kelly honestly wasn't used to having such great weather this early, especially back in America where he and his family had used to live. Usually, they were still shaking off the last call of winter before things began to warm up in March.

Nick occasionally stopped to simply watch the clouds go by as he made his way down the winding street, making his way through a route he had traveled on practically every day for the past year.

Every now and then, he would envision this same sky in ALfheim Online and map it against the storm he had fought through just to get to that next area.

"Yeah, never gonna brute-force my way through a weather effect again," Nick quipped. "I seriously thought I'd learned my lesson from the last time I did that..."

Just a few more turns and Nick found himself standing in front of Yokohama Kōhoku General Hospital. Nick brushed down his shirt before stepping through the large double doors and into the hospital's main lobby.

It seemed to be no busier than an average day, even though many of the recent patients were returning Sword Art Online survivors.

Two years and many of the survivors were still coming for treatment and therapy. _I guess some scars just can't be healed,_ Nick thought, often wondering what his life would be like if he had been one of the survivors.

Regardless, Nick shook those thoughts off of his mind. That wasn't why he was here.

"Hey there," Nick stated to the nearby receptionist. "I'm here to visit patient 27-B again."

"Still keeping up your perfect record, huh, Kelly-san?" the receptionist teased. "I'm impressed."

"I promised her, after all," Nick replied, scribbling his name on the sign-in sheet. "How is she today?"

"Oh, the usual," the receptionist stated. "She's excited about the new quest you two said you were going to go on today."

"Yeah, she's the one who suggested we go explore the new mini-dungeon for my birthday," Nick quipped.

"All right, you're all set, Kelly-san," the receptionist proclaimed even as Nick was already walking towards the elevator that led to his friend's floor. "Have fun!"

"Oh, you know I will," Nick laughed.

About fifteen seconds later, Nick was on the fourth floor of the hospital, passing by myriad other doctors and nurses who were going about their normal business.

Nick always passed by that one room where some of the SAO survivors were undergoing virtual therapy. They had been some of the brave souls who had refused to let what had happened in Aincrad keep them down, and had actually thought of using virtual reality as a form of therapy.

Much like she had been doing for so long.

Nick often wondered if she had inspired this kind of treatment.

Still, time was of the essence. He _did_ want to see that quest in action before fifty more players hogged it, as he had seen recently. _What was up with them just crowding all over the spawn point for that particular quest?_ Nick thought. _The reward wasn't even worth it, anyway._

After just a few more steps, Nick found himself in front of the door to the room of the friend he'd been visiting day after day for the past year.

 _Here goes nothing._

Not sure why he was so nervous now all of a sudden, Nick pushed his way through the door into the room, where the friend in question, a girl about his age of fifteen with short purple hair and red eyes reading a manga that he'd let her borrow.

Nick was surprised that she'd grown so engrossed with this series in particular, but he quickly righted his train of thought. This wasn't the time to be thinking about manga.

"Hey, Yuuki."

Yuuki Konno looked up from the book, her red eyes meeting Nick's brown eyes.

"Hi, Nick."

"You seemed pretty intrigued, you know," Nick teased as Yuuki put down the book. "Is that one getting good?"

"She seriously went back to him! After everything he did to her?!" Yuuki exclaimed. "She must be seriously whacked in the head. I _definitely_ wouldn't go back to someone like that!"

"Well, remember, she's got some serious co-dependency issues after her father abandoned her as a kid," Nick stated. "She said she'd go through hell and back for that guy, even after everything he said. ...yeah, even after five years of reading this one, I _still_ don't get it. Co-dependency issues or not, what he _said_ to her should be all she needs to know that he's _not right for her_."

"No kidding," Yuuki stated, suddenly gasping when she realized something. "Oh, almost forgot... happy birthday, Nick!"

Yuuki had reached over to her personal table and snatched up a little gift-wrapped box (Nick wondered how the heck he'd missed it coming in) to hand it off to him.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry I missed your last birthday," Yuuki apologized.

"Yuuki, we've been over this, silly," Nick teased. "You didn't even _know_ my birthday last year. I didn't actually tell you until two months after we met, after all."

Nick and Yuuki had met a little over a year ago, when Nick had been visiting his injured father who had recently been in a car accident. On his way to the room, Nick had seen Doctor Kurahashi bringing Yuuki back to her room, and...

If Nick was being honest with himself, he had been entranced from moment one. After his father had encouraged him to find out more about her, Nick had asked Kurahashi about her.

After being honestly shocked by Yuuki's story and determination to keep fighting until the very end, Nick had decided to visit Yuuki herself. Surprisingly, at least to Kurahashi, the two of them had hit it off pretty well, with Nick promising to visit her every day that he was able.

His mother and father were supportive of the idea, happy that Nick had made a new friend so easily. Nick had gone on to say that he felt Yuuki needed a friend after everything she'd been through.

And so far, Nick had indeed visited Yuuki every day since then, even if it had only been for a short time. Nick never broke a promise, after all, and this was one he intended to keep.

Recently, Nick had realized he was seeing Yuuki in a different light, but those thoughts had conflicted with the fact that no one, not even the doctors here, knew how much time Yuuki had left. Even though she was doing much better than two years ago, even making strides towards a possible full recovery, Nick knew how cruel fate could be, even when things looked up.

And, to be fair, Nick wasn't even sure if Yuuki felt the same way or not.

So, he decided to play his cards close and wait for a prime moment to at least let her know, so he could get it off his chest with no regrets.

Rerailing his train of thought, Nick decided to finally open the box, given that Yuuki was expectantly staring at him. Inside the box was a cute, golden, star-shaped locket.

"Open it," Yuuki stated. Nick did so, and saw a picture within the confines of the locket, that of the two of them flashing a double peace sign on the day they'd officially cemented their friendship.

"It's been well over a year, hasn't it?" Yuuki giggled. "I wanted to do something nicer, but I couldn't exactly convince the doctors to spend that kind of money on little ol' me."

"It's perfect, Yuuki," Nick replied, slipping the locket around his neck. "Honestly, I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to stuff like this. I'm just happy to have something to remind me of my best friend."

Yuuki actually blushed at that comment even as Nick stepped over to give her a hug.

"Awww... that was cheesy, but so sweet," Yuuki giggled. "You always know just what to say, don't you?"

"I've been told I have a knack for that," Nick replied.

"And now, for the second half of today's adventure," Yuuki laughed. "We have a dungeon to explore, don't we?"

"Yeah, let's actually get there first this time," Nick quipped as he reached into his messenger bag to pull out his Amusphere. "I'm really not looking forward to another depraved horde swarming the place for a reward that wasn't even worth half of that effort."

Yuuki laid down on her bed, reaching up to pull the Medicuboid over her head and log in.

"See you on the other side, Yuuki," Nick stated.

"Same to you, buddy!" Yuuki laughed.

"LINK START!" they proclaimed together.

After the normal vortex of multi-colored light flooding their vision, Nick and Yuuki were in their ALO avatars, standing in front of the teleport gate of floor thirty, Dahngrest, the Den of Guilds.

Yuuki's avatar had lustrous and gorgeous, long, purplish-black hair, and red eyes. She wore obsidian chest armor, a bluebottle violet tunic and a windswept skirt of the same color beneath the armor, with a thin, black sheath hanging on her waist.

Nick's avatar wasn't much different from his normal self, except that his hair was a little spikier and he was wearing a light black-and-green chestplate, and matching outfit and shorts with the sheath for his sword strapped to another piece of armor around his waist, with his shield, the Dreamcloud, strapped to his back.

"So where is this new dungeon we're gonna look through?" Nick wondered.

"The quest log says it's just outside the city, in one of the fields around the labyrinth," Yuuki explained. Nick cast a cursory glance towards the large structure out in the distance, which he knew held floor thirty's labyrinth, the one that wouldn't be open until the next big game update in a few days. Soon, floors thirty-one to forty would be open for the game's players, and Nick expected to run into a raid party more than once in the next few days here in Dahngrest.

"Well, let's not keep 'em waiting," Nick proclaimed as he and Yuuki set off for the outskirts of Dahngrest, not noticing that they were being watched from the shadows.

After about ten minutes of searching through the fields outside the town, Nick had inadvertently found the entrance to the dungeon thanks to the explosion of a monster clearing away a patch of conspicuous ground to reveal the stairs that would lead down into the dungeon.

"Well, that's... expected," Yuuki laughed.

"It's always the place you least expect, right?" Nick quipped. "Let's head on in and see what's going on here."

Nick walked up to the doorway and touched the barrier surrounding it to bring up the menu for the quest this dungeon was associated with. It read QUEST: REVENGE OF THE NORTH WITCH, DIFFICULTY: 5/10.

"Wait, North Witch? Some actually _lives_ in that dark place?" Yuuki wondered.

"If I remember correctly, it might have something to do with a quest from the original Sword Art Online," Nick stated. "I think it was one of those Wizard of Oz-related quests, like the one Kirito and Asuna went on before they purchased that house on floor twenty-two. Maybe they actually remembered that quest and decided to pay homage to it."

"Well, I guess we won't know until we give it a try, so let's do it!" Yuuki proclaimed as she walked up to Nick right as he pressed the ACCEPT QUEST button. The barrier surrounding the stairway vanished and the gateway slowly opened.

"After you," Nick stated. Yuuki just curtsied before making her way down the stairs.

Just as the gateway closed, someone in a large brown robe peeked out from a nearby structure, having observed the two players walking into the dungeon.

The figure adjusted its hood before deciding to wait until they came out to make a move. After all, they'd be constantly on their guard in a dungeon, what with all the monsters, right?

* * *

Nick swung his sword to quickly counter the Skeleton Knight's overhead slash, the two weapons clashing and resounding in the empty halls of the dungeon. Yuuki took advantage of this opportunity and rushed in to deliver a few good slashes to the Skeleton Knight's unprotected backside.

Nick pushed the enemy's sword away from him with Dreamcloud before deciding it was time to move in for the kill. He readied his own sword, the Crystallic Saber, the blade glowing a bright orange as he prepared his ultimate skill.

The Skeleton Knight seemed to recover and aimed a horizontal slice, but Yuuki was already over there to shut that down, catching the skeletal enemy across the back again, forcing it to turn and face her so Nick could unleash the beast, as he so often put it.

"Finish him off, Nick!" Yuuki exclaimed.

"Best idea I've heard all day," Nick quipped before adorning a serious expression. "Now say goodbye, skeleton freak!"

The Skeleton Knight only had time to glance back at Nick as he activated his attack, lashing out with a savage flurry of sword attacks.

A left-horizontal spiral slash, a right-horizontal flourish, a vertical uppercut, a downward spike, four left-to-right-to-left slashes, a diagonal uppercut, and a downward chop, Crystallic Saber's blade leaving orange light trails with each movement Nick made.

An outward stab, a right-hand slice, two diagonal slashes in an X formation, a quick slap with the flat of the blade, and finally, Nick gripped his weapon tightly, leaping into the air and slicing downward with all the force of a crashing airliner, the crystal blade tearing straight through the last of the Skeleton Knight's health bar, causing it to start glitching and wobbling before exploding into shards of light.

"VICTORY!" Yuuki exclaimed once the area was calm again. "Is it weird that I always love seeing that move in action?"

"You're the one who helped me design it, after all," Nick teased. That move had been Nick's personal Original Sword Skill, Ars Arcanum, a savage blur of unblockable slashes with a defense-piercing element. Though the attack was unblockable, Nick knew that an agile enough opponent could simply dodge the attack until it was over, so that's why Nick usually found a way to either stun or distract his opponent before he unleashed Ars Arcanum.

"I think that's the last of the mini-bosses," Yuuki stated. The door to the North Witch's arena had been blocked by a magical barrier that could only be dispelled by defeating four mini-boss knights that were found in this dungeon. "Let's head back to the center and take that witch down."

After a quick check of their stats, Nick and Yuuki raced back to the exact center of the dungeon just in time to see the magical barrier dissipate and open the way to the boss room.

As Yuuki went to open the gate, Nick chanted a spell to temporarily raise all of their stats. Nick played ALfheim Online as a Spriggan geared mostly towards physical combat with buff and debuff spells for flavor (and healing spells, because of course).

Black flames erupted into existence all around the boss room, giving it a shadowy light reminiscent of the void. Nick and Yuuki clutched the handle of their swords as the boss descended from the rafters, her information window identifying her as The North Witch, Embracer of Despair, with two health bars.

"I expected you fairy wretches would eventually find your way here," the North Witch bellowed, summoning her staff to her hands. "You will rue the day you stepped into my domain, especially after how your kind slaughtered my sister."

The North Witch raised her staff, electricity lancing from the jewel in its center. "Prepare to face despair unlike anything else you have ever felt in your miserable lives!"

"Looks like it's time to rumble!" Yuuki proclaimed. "You ready for this, Nick?"

Nick responded by unsheathing the Crystallic Saber and shifting into a fighting stance. "Oh, you'd better believe I am."

The North Witch decided to start the battle by firing a trio of lightning bolts towards them, but Yuuki quickly dodged around them and leaped upwards to attack, landing three clean slashes before backflipping to avoid a whack to the face from the boss' staff.

"Okay, chew on this!" Yuuki shouted, chanting her magic words as three circles of runes surrounded her. Nick slashed at the North Witch to draw her attention away from Yuuki until she was ready.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, the runes vanished and Yuuki aimed her hands for the North Witch before opening her palms and unleashing her spell, a barrage of amethyst, crescent-shaped energy blades. The North Witch only had time to notice the spell coming her way before she was battered by the barrage of blades, draining a good chunk of her first health bar away.

"Yeah, how'd ya like that?!" Yuuki challenged, only for the North Witch to fire off a comet-shaped blast at her while she was distracted.

This time, Nick was the one to leap to defense, planting himself firmly in front of Yuuki and raising the Dreamcloud to block the incoming blast, the force pushing him back a few feet, but doing no visible damage.

Before the North Witch could prepare another spell, Nick and Yuuki rushed forward together, intent on causing as much damage as possible.

"You know the drill, right, Yuuki?" Nick asked.

"Oh, you know I do!" Yuuki laughed.

They both leaped through the air towards the North Witch, their swords primed and ready.

" _Switch Combination: Extreme Stars!"_ Nick and Yuuki shouted together. That wasn't actually its name, but it was a combo they liked to use, so they decided to name it.

Nick was the first to attack, slashing diagonally upwards and left, then diagonally downwards and right, then switching with Yuuki, who slashed straight horizontally, then diagonally down left and diagonally down right, their slashes forming the shape of a star. Finally, they both thrust their swords straight through the center of the star they'd created with their attacks, shattering the star and heavily damaging the North Witch, dropping her health into its second bar.

"I see I have underestimated you," the North Witch proclaimed, a powerful aura of darkness exploding to life around her body as Nick and Yuuki landed a few feet away. "Well, I will not be making that mistake again! Prepare to face utter oblivion!"

Nick and Yuuki stood their ground as the North Witch began changing her attack patterns. Nick was the first to notice circles of dark magic appearing underneath them and all over the arena floor.

"YUUKI, MOVE!" Nick shouted as the two of them began dodging around to avoid the geysers of dark energy that erupted from the magic circles on the floor.

Once the geysers had subsided, Yuuki decided to move in and prepare another Ethereal Blades spell, only for the North Witch to anticipate that move and create another explosion of dark energy under her. Despite darkness being her race's element and so not doing much damage, the attack did throw Yuuki back a few feet.

Regardless, Nick didn't take this too well.

"All right, little miss robe, you're gonna wish you never did that!" Nick shouted, rushing in to attack while weaving through the dark bolts that were being fired at him. As the North Witch prepared yet another spell, Nick took advantage of his chance to leap towards the boss and deliver three clean slashes to knock her to the ground.

Nick summarily wasted no time in unleashing another Ars Arcanum on the North Witch, making sure to land every hit he could before the boss could recover. And sure enough, just as he landed the final hit, the North Witch picked herself up and flew off to another corner of the boss room, only to get battered by another barrage of Ethereal Blades.

Nick glanced over to the side to see Yuuki back on her feet and casting a healing spell on both of them.

"We're almost done, right?" Yuuki quipped. "Because witch lady's looking a little sluggish right now."

Looking back at the North Witch confirmed that she was down to under half of her remaining health bar.

"All right, here's the plan," Nick proclaimed. "I'm gonna move in and do just a little more damage, and then I'm gonna stun her. When that happens, you move in and hit her with Mother's Rosario. That should be enough to finish the job."

"You got it!" Yuuki giggled, readying herself.

The instant the North Witch recovered, Nick was on the move, countering a swing from her staff, then backflipping over her to land a swift slash to her back, causing her to seize up and stop moving.

"Go for it, Yuuki!" Nick shouted.

"Oh, yeah, finisher time!" Yuuki exclaimed before charging in and raising her sword. Just as the North Witch looked up, Yuuki readied her weapon and stabbed outwards five times, creating a horizontal line down the North Witch's chest. Yuuki spun around and stabbed out five more times, creating another line going the opposite way, both lines forming a sort of X. Finally, Yuuki reared back and thrust her sword forward with a loud battle cry, driving the point of her blade straight into the center of the X she'd formed with her earlier sword stabs. Purple light exploded from the North Witch's wounds upon impact, and her health bar drained completely when the damage fully registered.

Completely defeated, the North Witch slumped to the ground, her last words being "Stronger... than I thought..." before she exploded into shards of light, the CONGRATULATIONS! QUEST CLEAR! text flashing above where she had just been.

"And victory for us!" Yuuki exclaimed, high-fiving Nick as the commotion settled down. "That was fun, huh?"

"Yeah, for a midboss with only two health bars, she actually put up quite a fight," Nick admitted. "The last one was honestly kinda pathetic, if you want my opinion."

Yuuki was about to respond when she noticed something around her neck that she hadn't had before the boss fight. She decided to check its information, and saw that it was a unique item, the Memento Pendant, a necklace and pendant similar to the one that the North Witch had worn that conferred a quite large +5 boost to all of her stats.

"Oh, that's cool!" Yuuki laughed.

"It looks good on you," Nick stated.

"Oh, you," Yuuki giggled, actually blushing again, though she was quickly shaken out of her reverie when the entire area began to rumble uncontrollably. "Oh, man, what's happening _now_?! Is the whole lair collapsing?!"

"Cliché, but it really does work," Nick quipped. "Let's hightail it outta here!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Yuuki exclaimed. And the two players quickly made themselves scarce as the walls began to fall down and pillars began to crack under the force of the quake that was tearing the lair apart.

By the time they escaped from the dungeon, the doorway closed behind them so the quest could officially reset itself for any other player that would come by.

"Well, that was fun, huh?" Yuuki quipped, just now noticing that it was nighttime on this floor. Despite the dark skies, Dahngrest could easily be seen in the distance, the city's lights shining like a beacon for anyone nearby. "Holy cow, how long were we in that dungeon?!"

"Long enough, I guess," Nick stated. "Well, how about we get back to Dahngrest and check up on the Sleeping Knights?"

"Yeah, they said they were gonna get ready for the boss raid!" Yuuki realized. "Just a couple more days and we can finally move on to the next floor!"

"No kidding, last time I saw Kirito, he couldn't stop himself from doing some level-grinding in the fields," Nick stated. "I swear, he's such a game nut sometimes."

"Ah, it's just the way he is," Yuuki admitted. "No joke, I've seen Asuna out there with him just as much. They probably just want to be ready, considering we're all worried about how hard the next boss is going to be."

"From what Kirito said, that giant enemy crab boss on floor twenty-eight was _pathetic_ ," Nick quipped. "Then you can imagine everyone's surprise when the floor twenty- _nine_ boss showed up."

Yuuki couldn't help but smile teasingly when Nick mentioned Fafnir, the Lord of Lightning, boss of floor twenty-nine of New Aincrad. After all, both of them had been in the raid party to challenge the boss, and Nick honestly hadn't had an easy time against it.

"I'd _really_ like to forget that disaster ever happened," Nick groaned.

"Oh, come on, it was funny!" Yuuki teased.

"Funny for _you_ guys," Nick stated. "That freakin' thing _manhandled_ me!"

"Well, that won't happen this time," Yuuki giggled. "We're all gonna work double-time and get as much info on the boss as we can, so you never have to worry about getting manhandled by a dragon again, 'kay?"

"I'm just hoping that..." Nick's statement was interrupted when a loud ping noise indicated that Nick had received a message. Quickly opening the menu to check it out, Nick was suddenly perplexed when he saw that the message in question didn't appear to have come from any player he personally knew.

The player's name was a jumbled mess of letters, numbers, and symbols, though Nick couldn't shake the feeling he'd seen that pattern somewhere before. The message read "JUST LISTEN" in perfect English. And finally, there was a sound file attached. His curiosity getting the better of him, Nick tapped the file to play the sound.

It was a song, apparently. _Whoever it is, she can sing pretty well,_ Nick thought.

"What's going on?" Yuuki wondered.

"Someone's singing to me, apparently," Nick explained. "Something about ink puddles, infinite choices, and 'writing the way into his heart'. It isn't any song I've heard before, to be frank."

"She's got a good voice, at the very least," Yuuki admitted. "But who sent it to you?"

"Not a clue," Nick stated, closing the file. "The player name was a jumbled mess."

"Um, and now for our _second_ strange sight of the day..." Yuuki quipped, pointing towards a figure who had just shown up a few feet away. The figure was completely obscured by a fashionable black cloak and hood, though the curves that could be seen at least meant she was a girl.

"Okay..." Nick noted. This wasn't something he'd been prepared for today, at all.

"Um, can you speak, miss?" Yuuki asked.

The girl simply raised her hand and swiped through her own menu a few times. To Nick's surprise, a menu opened in front of him, showing that the girl had just sent him a duel request.

And then came the third strange sight of their day: the girl's player name was the exact same jumbled mess of the one that had sent him that song.

"All right, then," Nick quipped, deciding that he'd ask once this was over and moved his finger to accept her duel request, setting the stage for a Half-Life duel, where the first one to be taken down to half their health or less would lose.

As the countdown began, the girl began to hum softly, and Nick recognized it as the opening bars of the song he'd been sent. _That's four. What's going on here?_ Nick thought.

When the countdown reached ten seconds, the girl grasped her cloak tightly.

"What do you call love in your reality?" the girl proclaimed ( _another line from the song! That's_ _ **five**_ _now!_ Nick thought) before dramatically throwing her cloak aside, revealing herself to be a Spriggan like Nick. She had long brown hair tied into a ponytail with a bright red ribbon, her face framed by bangs and two long strands of hair. She opened her emerald-green eyes and stared directly at Nick.

The girl, whose player name could now easily be read as Katelyn, summoned two bright green swords to her hand, shocking both Nick and Yuuki for the sixth time.

Though it wasn't _that_ much of a shock, considering that a lot of players were trying to emulate Kirito's dual-wielding through Skill Connect.

"Yuuki, is this weird to you?" Nick asked as the duel countdown reached the final ten seconds.

"Six strange sights in barely even a minute," Yuuki stated. "I think we've already surpassed our 'weird limit' for today."

Katelyn clutched her swords tightly, making Nick remember to ready his own as the DUEL BEGIN text flared.

"Here I come!" Katelyn shouted before charging straight for Nick.

"Okay, game on!" Nick replied, charging in to meet Katelyn's dual strike before spinning around to avoid the retaliation he knew was coming. Sure enough, Katelyn chopped downward with both of her swords, just barely missing Nick as he spun away.

Nick moved in while Katelyn was recovering to deliver an X-slash to her torso, taking off about seven percent of her health. Katelyn didn't let this stop her, however, pushing herself back up to strike out at Nick with a scissor cut, taking the same amount of health off of him.

The two continued to clash swords for a few minutes, neither one of them giving any ground.

Deciding to try a new tactic, Nick grasped the Dreamcloud before throwing it like a frisbee. Though it missed Katelyn by a few feet, it did accomplish his intent: Katelyn's gaze instinctively turned to follow the flying shield, giving Nick the perfect opportunity to get close to Katelyn and unleash an Ars Arcanum before she could react.

Once the final strike sent her flying, Katelyn was down to forty-seven percent health, and the pop-up menu declared Nick the winner of the duel.

Nick was preparing himself for a lot of things, not knowing how Katelyn would react to losing a duel.

Instead, Katelyn simply sheathed her swords and retrieved her cloak before draping it back over her body. Oddly, this caused her player name to return to the jumbled mess it had been before.

"Maybe it's an effect of the cloak?" Yuuki wondered.

Katelyn turned around to leave, only to raise two fingers in an odd gesture before walking back towards Dahngrest.

And still, Nick kept thinking. What was it about that gesture that started dredging up odd fragments of memory?

"Hey, Nick! We're losing daylight here! Let's get back and tell the Sleeping Knights about our progress!" Yuuki exclaimed. She was already halfway down the path they'd taken to get here.

"Oh, crap, you're right!" Nick exclaimed, hurrying to catch up with Yuuki.

If he hadn't been preoccupied with thinking up battle plans and trying to keep up with his friend's amazing speed (they liked to make a game out of it at times), Nick would have noticed Katelyn watching them from the safety and shadows of a nearby tree.

"Yeah, he's exactly what I expected. Ooh, how fun."

 _Later that night, back in the real world..._

"So, did that quest live up to expectations, Nick?" Yuuki giggled once the two of them found themselves back in the hospital room.

"Pretty much," Nick replied. "And here's hoping that our little training regiment helps us during the labyrinth raid, because I am _not_ getting manhandled by another boss. I've had enough of that for my entire videogame career, thank you very much."

"Hey, I'm sure it won't be that bad," Yuuki laughed. "All of us are gonna be there, so we can fight together. I promised you, after all, didn't I?"

"Sure did," Nick stated as he reached into his messenger bag on the far table for his cell phone. Sure enough, a text from his mother awaited him. "Well, mom's home, so I guess my time's up for tonight."

"Hey, don't act like we won't see each other anymore," Yuuki teased. She did this a lot whenever Nick realized he had to go back home. "It's just for a night."

"Truer words," Nick stated. "I'll see you tomorrow, Yuuki."

"Hey, Nick?" Yuuki asked. "Come here before ya go. I've got a secret to tell you."

Curious as to what Yuuki wanted to say, Nick obeyed and moved closer to Yuuki, leaning in to receive this seemingly secret information.

And Nick didn't know how to react when he felt something on his cheek, like she had just...

Glancing towards Yuuki confirmed his thought. Yuuki had just kissed him on the cheek.

"I don't know how I could possibly thank you enough for being such a wonderful friend, Nick," Yuuki stated. "After all the fun we've had, I'm just... well, I'm happy you've been my friend for so long, especially when I really needed one."

Yuuki looked Nick square in the eyes. Despite her slight blush, she was positively beaming. "I count myself lucky to have so many amazing friends like you and the Sleeping Knights, and even Asuna, who's, well, practically my sister now."

Yuuki reached out to hug Nick tightly. "You're awesome, Nick. I just wanted you to know that."

And, needless to say, the words lingered even as Nick was finally on his way back home. His hand often lifted to touch the spot on his cheek where Yuuki had kissed him, his mind traveling in many different directions as he tried to interpret if there was any hidden meaning behind it.

But he knew one thing with complete certainty. That kiss had basically confirmed Yuuki liked him in _some_ way. Was it just an extension of friendship, did she possibly feel something more? Nick wasn't sure, if his chaotic thought process was any indication.

After a few more quicker-than-normal steps, Nick shook his head, righting his thoughts for the moment. _Okay, Nick, let's think this through. You've had a crush on Yuuki for a while, but didn't want to say anything because you're worried it might wreck what we've already got. Cliché, I know, but it happens. But now, she actually kissed you. On the cheek, mind, but it's still a kiss, damn it! What I'd like to know is... does that mean she feels the same way I do about her, or is it just a sign of friendship? Agh, why is this so confusing? Why couldn't this just be an anime where that's all we need to figure it out?!_

Nick glanced up at the star-filled night sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight, which made it a perfect night for stargazers to come out. Nick smiled, remembering how he'd always wanted to take Yuuki stargazing once she was out of the hospital.

 _Okay, how about this?_ Nick decided. _I'll tell her tomorrow. At least, that way, I can get it off my chest, and I won't have to spend the rest of my dang life wondering what could have been._

With this thought in mind, Nick happily continued his journey home, once again unaware that he was being watched from afar.

Katelyn simply watched Nick for a few more minutes before moving back towards her originally planned destination. Good. He had passed the first test.

 _Is he really the same person I knew?_ Katelyn thought. _Eh, it doesn't matter. I'm well on my way to making him mine._

Katelyn snickered quietly to herself so as not to arouse any unneeded attention, then melting back into the shadows, almost as if she had never been there in the first place.

 _To be continued..._

* * *

On the next episode...

Nick: Well, it's finally time isn't it?

Yuuki: Yep! The floor thirty labyrinth is open, and it's time to move on to the next ten floors!

Nick: I'm hearing some rather disturbing things about this boss, though. Wonderful, that probably means it's gonna be a rerun of the floor twenty-nine fight. Why does that stupid dragon keep coming back to haunt me?!

Yuuki: Well, we've got a gigantic raid party for this one, so hopefully it won't be too bad. ...hey, isn't that...? Nick, look, it's Katelyn!

Nick: Wait, what's she doing here? I don't remember seeing her in any of the strategy meetings...

Yuuki: It reeks of trouble, Nick. I'll keep an eye on her, 'kay?

Nick: Don't know what I'd do without ya, Yuuki. Next time on _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:_ , "The Laser-Sighted Showdown"!

Nick and Yuuki: This may be a game, but it's not something you play!


	2. The Laser-Sighted Showdown

Yuuki swung her sword a few times as she made her way to what was officially the final strategy meeting before the raid party set out to challenge the floor thirty labyrinth and eventually the boss.

It never hurt to make sure you were ready, after all.

"Okay, where'd Nick go?" Yuuki wondered. "He did say he was going to be here for this one, right?"

"I'm over here, Yuuki!" Nick exclaimed, rushing up to Yuuki at just the right moment. "Sorry about that. There was a pretty long line at the item shop, and I just wanted to stock up on everything we'd need for the boss fight. I'm not running out of items anymore, especially after that one time I got trapped in a field dungeon empty-handed."

"Yeah, wouldn't want anything like that to happen, _especially_ against a boss," Yuuki giggled. "All right, how about we join the meeting?"

"In a minute, Yuuki," Nick stated, suddenly turning serious. _All right, here goes... well, something._ "There's something I want to tell you."

"What's up?" Yuuki asked, flashing an extremely adorable grin that just made Nick blush more, though he fought it down so he could focus on what he wanted to say.

Gathering all of the courage he could, Nick began to say what he wanted to say. "Yuuki, you know how we've been friends for quite a while now? After what you said last night, I guess I realized that I'm lucky to have a friend like you, too. But..."

Realizing he was pretty much running on autopilot now, Nick kept at it, not wanting to chicken out now, and took Yuuki's hands into his own.

"When you gave me that kiss last night, it... well, it got me thinking about something," Nick continued. "I'm going to be honest, I've had a crush on you for a while. I didn't say anything because I was afraid I'd ruin our friendship, as cliché and typical-anime-trope as it seems."

Yuuki just stood there in silence, a rising blush growing on her face as Nick poured his heart out.

"But last night, after you gave me that kiss, I promised myself that next time I saw you, I'd at least tell you how I felt, so I wouldn't spend my life wondering what could have been," Nick stated with a nervous laugh. "Ah, I must sound so stupid, huh? I guess... what I'm trying to say is... is..."

This was it. The moment of truth. Nick gazed straight into Yuuki's bright red eyes, not daring to break eye contact. "I love you, Yuuki!"

* * *

(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)

 **The Blue Time Ranger** is proud to present...  
 _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:  
_ **Story Created:** January 24th, 2018  
 **Story Rated:** T for Teen

 **Story Summary:** What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?

 **On Today's Episode:** Nick and Yuuki are on their way through the floor thirty labyrinth, having trained like crazy for the express purpose of challenging the floor thirty boss, the Adephagos, Devourer of Worlds. Strangely, Katelyn seems to have followed the raid party to the boss fight, and she's oddly focused on Nick and his safety. Despite appreciating the help, Nick can't help but wonder why he keeps seeing Katelyn show up everywhere he is lately. Can Nick and Yuuki figure out what exactly Katelyn's motive is?

 **And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I _did_ own Sword Art Online, which I _don't_ , why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

* * *

Episode 2: The Laser-Sighted Showdown

Yuuki's hands began to shake, and Nick obviously noticed this since he was holding her hands. Nick looked back at Yuuki, and started having a sort of internal freakout as he saw tears beginning to fall from Yuuki's eyes.

 _Oh, crapbaskets._ "Oh, man, I'm sorry, Yuuki, I freakin' _knew_ this was going to happen, oh my god, why did I even _listen_ to myself..."

But Nick's panicked rambling was immediately silenced when Yuuki let go of Nick's hands. Nick was initially afraid he'd screwed up even worse, but when Yuuki leaped at him and threw her arms around him, he allowed himself to hope. "Y-Yuuki, what..."

"Oh, Nick, I love you, too!" Yuuki proclaimed.

"S-Seriously? You mean that?" Nick asked.

"Absolutely!" Yuuki laughed, pulling back so she could gaze at Nick. "Believe it or not, I was doin' some thinking last night after you left. I wanted to ask myself why I specifically kissed you to show my appreciation. And then, when I thought back on the times we've spent together, and especially how you reacted when I kissed you, I started thinking that maybe, just maybe... you loved me, too. Is it weird that I thought that?"

"Not at all, now that I know you feel the same way," Nick quipped. "That seems to be the shtick, that we both don't want to say anything to ruin what we've already got, but we still have thoughts about stepping it up a notch."

"Oh, don't I know it," Yuuki giggled.

"Regardless, could you... you know, say it again, Yuuki?" Nick wondered, actually causing Yuuki to giggle.

 _He's always making me laugh,_ Yuuki thought. Either way, Yuuki reached out to take Nick's hands much like he had done for her a few seconds ago.

"I love you, Nick."

"I love you, too, Yuuki. Oh, wait, one more question."

"Aw, only _one_ more?" Yuuki laughed.

"For now, at least," Nick replied. "Can I... can I kiss you? Like, a _real_ kiss?"

Yuuki just nodded. "Lay it on me."

Nick reached out to let his hands rest on Yuuki's shoulders, then pulled her closer to him. Yuuki decided to meet him halfway, their lips connecting and staying together for at least ten seconds before parting.

When they pulled away, Yuuki winked at Nick. "Wanna do it again for _real_ when we're done here?"

Yuuki snickered at seeing Nick's face light up like a sun, then simply started laughing.

"Was that really so funny?" Nick groaned.

"Aw, you're just too easy to tease, silly!" Yuuki laughed.

"Despite that, I think I'll take you up on that offer when we get back to reality," Nick stuttered. "But for now, let's go see what this raid guy has to say."

With that, Nick and Yuuki walked towards the large group just ahead, holding hands the entire way.

"Hey, aren't the rest of the Sleeping Knights coming?" Nick wondered.

"They said they had a checkup with the doc, and couldn't make it today," Yuuki answered. "So, it looks like it's just you and me for this meeting."

"How are they all doing, if I can ask?" Nick asked.

"Pretty good, actually," Yuuki quipped. "Doc even said that Siune's on her way to a full recovery!"

"That's awesome!" Nick exclaimed. "Here's hoping the rest of the gang can be that lucky."

Yuuki was about to continue when she noticed someone staring towards them from a few feet away. Upon closer inspection, Yuuki realized that it was Katelyn, the strange woman who had waited for them to return from the North Witch's Lair the other night and challenged Nick to a duel after sending him a strange song.

"Hey, Nick, look," Yuuki stated, pointing towards where Katelyn was sitting. Nick glanced over in surprise, not having seen Katelyn show up for the meeting before this.

"I'm gonna hazard a guess that it's once again something with her cloak," Yuuki answered Nick's unasked question. "Because I didn't notice her before this either. As far as I know, she hasn't been to any of the other raid meetings."

"What is this girl's deal?" Nick wondered, noticing that he could see Katelyn's face despite the cloak. She seemed to be muttering something about the bombastic way the Salamander captain was detailing their plan to raid the labyrinth. If anything, she looked bored as all get out.

As the Salamander continued to break down his plans for exploring the labyrinth, Katelyn noticed Nick staring at her. To Nick's surprise, she just smiled and waved at him before turning her attention back to the Salamander.

"Okay, this is starting to weird me out," Nick quipped. "I hope we don't have a stalker situation on our hands here, because that is the _last_ thing I want to deal with during a boss fight."

"Don't worry, Nick, I'll keep an eye out for anything that might try and trip us up," Yuuki replied. "Because you're my boyfriend now, and that means I have to work triple-time to ensure my boyfriend will never get manhandled by a boss again."

They kissed again to seal that promise, so wrapped up in showing their affection that they missed how Katelyn's face twitched at the sight of their kiss.

Two days passed rather quickly, and once the update was completed and the way to the labyrinth opened, the Salamander captain proceeded to lead the raid party towards the entrance to the labyrinth.

However, the raid party was met with a surprise when they reached the entrance and a monster materialized in front of them, a large, dragon-like creature with red scales and two-foot long horns, but smaller wings than Fafnir's had been.

"A Field Boss?!" Yuuki exclaimed. "I haven't seen one of those since floor twenty-three!"

"And _of course_ it's another freakin' dragon!" Nick growled. "How much longer is floor-twenty nine going to haunt me?!"

Deciding that he wasn't going to let another dragon get the better of him, Nick drew the Crystallic Saber and charged towards the dragon, Yuuki following close behind.

The boss, known as Igneel the Scorcher, roared in challenge as Nick leaped towards it, striking immediately at its long horns. Nick was pleased to see that this had quite the effect, causing Igneel to back away before unleashing a stream of fire breath towards him.

Nick dove away from the attack just in time to see Yuuki casting Ethereal Blades on Igneel's horns, draining a good chunk of Igneel's first health bar of two.

They had decided to switch out between who would go on the offense and who would provide support, so they could both get the most out of their skills, especially since Yuuki had learned a much better healing skill during their training time.

It didn't take too long before Nick and Yuuki, with some occasional assistance from spellcasters in the raid party, were able to knock Igneel down to half of its health. However, Igneel then began to power up, its scales now glowing with the brilliant fiery light of a sun, and its eyes glowed with this same newfound power.

"Oh, that's not good," Yuuki quipped.

Nick didn't have time to react as Igneel snapped its head down and unleashed a large fireball from its horns straight for him. Nick raised the Dreamcloud despite knowing it probably wouldn't do much good, only for Katelyn to leap in front of him and, with one deft swing of her swords, slash through the fireball and leave its halves to fizzle away.

"W-wha..."

"Hurry and attack! It looks like it needs to recover after that move!" Katelyn shouted. Nick decided to take Katelyn's advice and move in, unleashing Ars Arcanum on the horns and watching in delight as Igneel's health dropped in nice chunks with each strike he landed.

"Yuuki, switch!" Nick exclaimed. Yuuki nodded, jumping over Nick to unleash a Horizontal Square on the horns.

"Katelyn, switch!" Yuuki shouted, and Katelyn did so, tagging in to unleash her sword skill Final Revolution, a spinning attack with both of her swords that created a cutting circle of light around her.

"Nick, switch!" Katelyn proclaimed, and Nick spun around Katelyn to unleash Bullet Dive, where he rushed at Igneel before slashing upwards, the strike taking him into the air, before he came back down with a vicious overhead stab attack, the impact causing a small shockwave to ripple from the strike point.

With the three-way combo going, Igneel's health eventually fell to its limits.

"Okay, time to end this, dragon breath," Nick proclaimed.

"Ooh, me, me, me!" Katelyn exclaimed. "I wanna show off my ultimate technique!"

Igneel lifted its head back up to attack while it still could, but Katelyn was already on the offensive, rushing at Igneel with both of her swords primed and ready.

"Take _this_!" Katelyn shouted, beginning her attack by thrusting her swords forward together, then slashing them both outwards, then performing a backwards somersault and slashing inwards with both blades, creating an X shape similar to Mother's Rosario.

Katelyn then took her left sword and traced a half-circle to the left, then did the same with the right sword, creating a light circle around the X.

For the final blow, Katelyn rushed Igneel, slashing with both blades so forcefully that she shattered the image she'd created with her earlier sword strikes and cleaved two large lines through the now-defeated Igneel, finally ending up on the other side of the boss with her swords down as Igneel exploded into shards of light to the cheers of the entire raid party.

"Wow, Katelyn, that was _awesome_!" Yuuki exclaimed. "Was that your Original Sword Skill?"

"Yup!" Katelyn giggled. "What you just witnessed was my specialty, Full Lunar Eclipse. Made it all by myself!"

Nick was about to question why Katelyn had shown up, since she hadn't been at _any_ of the other floor thirty raid meetings, but he quickly decided to file that question away for later when he noticed the raid party moving on to the labyrinth entrance.

"Hey, wait up!" Nick shouted, dashing off to catch up with the raid party, Yuuki and Katelyn following close behind.

The labyrinth itself gave off the impression of an ancient forest with many gigantic tree roots growing across the walls, large trees of many different kinds at almost every corner, and a slight feeling of the rainforest due to the constant light drizzle that fell from above.

"Well, into the Flooded Forest we go," Nick quipped.

"Flooded Forest?" Katelyn asked.

"He likes to give nicknames to the labyrinths we get to explore," Yuuki answered. "It's just a thing he does."

Despite the general ominous nature of the labyrinth, it had only taken three and a half days for the raid team to discover the boss room as opposed to the week it usually took, since the Flooded Forest didn't have as many floors as the previous labyrinth did, merely five floors as opposed to floor twenty-nine's twelve floors.

It seemed, to compensate, that the regular monsters found in the labyrinth were stronger than floor twenty-nine's had been, so many members of the raid party were kept on their toes.

Nick had been keeping a particular eye on Katelyn, as she had shown up to every day of the raid party's journey through the labyrinth. No matter what happened or what orders were given to the party, Katelyn would always prioritize Nick's safety over all else, even occasionally destroying a monster or two that had blindsided him.

And while Nick did appreciate the help, he was starting to worry about Katelyn's motives for doing it. After all, she had most likely seen Nick and Yuuki being affectionate to each other, especially that kiss after tag-teaming a particularly tough monsters on the fourth floor.

Nick never liked stalker situations in _anything_ , as his mother had been stalked by an old boyfriend of hers a few years ago. Even though Nick and his father had actually teamed up to take the stalker down, Nick had always been subtly on edge in unfamiliar places, since he knew that strange things could happen anytime, anywhere, without any warning whatsoever.

Especially here in virtual reality, considering all the chaos it had been through the past few years.

So, yeah, Nick was understandably wary after all of this.

Despite that, Nick kept his spirits high and his guard up as the raid party began their last meeting before the boss fight was set to begin.

"All right, everybody, this is it," the Salamander general proclaimed as the raid party approached the large and thorn-covered double door, no doubt the gateway to the boss arena. "It's time to take on another boss."

"What did the scouting party find out?" an Undine asked.

"As far as we know, the boss is capable of using the four classical elements in its attack patterns," the Salamander general stated. "We don't know much else considering that the last scout party... kind of got annihilated by the boss when they went in."

"Sounds like it's a mostly magic-based boss," Siune proclaimed. The rest of the Sleeping Knights had joined Nick and Yuuki for this particular raid. "We'll probably need players who can easily tank magical abilities."

"Just as long as it's not another freakin' _dragon_..." Nick groaned, to which Yuuki just patted him on the shoulder as the Salamander general slashed through the thorns covering the boss gate.

"So, here's our plan," the Salamander stated quite clearly. "We want all of our magic defense-oriented tanks to be our perimeter defense formation in case it starts flinging spells everywhere. Spellcasters, if this boss is weak to any of the elements, we want you to find any opening you can and blast it to hell. Everything else, we'll leave to the player's discretion. Are you all ready?"

A loud chorus of cheers answered that question, and so the Salamander general opened the door, leading into the boss room that was _much_ larger than Fafnir's had been, at least five times as wide in the shape of a large dome.

"Stay on your toes, everyone," Katelyn stated, swiftly drawing both of her swords.

Nick and Yuuki did the same with their weapons, preparing themselves for whatever chaos was about to erupt.

And erupt, it very well did.

After a minute of silence and preparation, the doorway to the boss room slammed itself shut, and the light in the arena seemed to be sucked away by something.

Nick was the first to look up and see why that had happened.

A gigantic purple blob was forming at the very top of the arena, and it appeared to be actually absorbing the light from the torches around the boss room. After a few more seconds, it detached itself from the roof of the arena and crashed down to the floor, putting the entire party on edge.

The blob eventually began to expand until shattering itself like a bubble to reveal the boss itself, an immense beetle monster with four extra pairs of legs, each one radiating a glow corresponding with an element, four combat tentacles made of the same purple material as its blob cocoon, and three pairs of evil-looking red eyes. Five health bars, a number that hadn't been seen on a boss since the Skull Reaper back in Sword Art Online, flashed into existence above its head for the players, followed by its boss title.

 _Adephagos, the Devourer of Worlds._

"This is it, everyone! Prepare for battle!" the Salamander shouted.

"All right, Sleeping Knights, let's throw down!" Yuuki exclaimed as everyone charged for the Adephagos.

The Adephagos didn't take too lightly to that, swinging one of its tentacles and easily swatting away at least six advancing players like bugs. The Adephagos followed this up by raising another tentacle, this one glowing red, and slamming it down onto the ground, creating a shockwave of flames that many players had to jump over, though the tanks simply raised their shields to defend as best they could.

"So, fire skills first, huh?" Yuuki quipped.

This was all the signal that the many spellcasters needed to start firing off as many water spells as they could in hopes of a fast end to this battle. Nick was honestly impressed with what he was seeing, as he had never really invested in Water-element spells. He usually just learned the ones he thought would work best with his fighting style, as he didn't really believe himself cut out to be a mage in a game like this.

Just then, Nick noticed that the Adephagos' attention was still on the spellcasters even as it was battered with all manner of water magic attacks. Deciding to take advantage of this while he could, Nick moved in closer while the Adephagos was still distracted and cast a debuff spell to temporarily half the Adephagos' defense.

"Yuuki, let's pour it on!" Nick exclaimed.

"Roger! Talken, Nori, flank us from both sides just in case it tries to be sneaky!" Yuuki shouted to her fellow Sleeping Knights.

While the Adephagos continued to batter the front line with walls of flame and meteors shot from its devilish eyes, Nick, Yuuki, Talken and Nori rushed in to attack the Adephagos' unprotected behind with as many sword skills as they could muster.

Nick even managed to slip in an Ars Arcanum during the assault, driving the first health bar to its limits.

"I think it's working!" Nick exclaimed.

Before Nori could make another move, however...

"Out of my way!" Katelyn shouted, shoving Nori aside so she could charge in and actually start running up the Adephagos' backside, slashing like wildfire at every spot she could on the way up. Due to the debuff Nick had cast, each strike did visible damage to its health.

As Katelyn reached the Adephagos' head, it turned said head towards her, intending to blast her off with a meteor shot from its eyes, but Katelyn slashed through the meteor with both swords before performing a Final Revolution on the head, finishing off the first health bar and causing the tentacle that was glowing red to fall off and explode into light.

"Hey, its tentacle thing fell off!" Nori stated, readying her weapon again.

"Maybe once we drain a health bar, it can't use that element anymore," Katelyn responded.

"So hopefully that means less pain for us as the fight rages on," Nick quipped, even as he kept thinking about something. Katelyn, in her rush to attack the Adephagos, had just barreled through Nori to get there, seemingly confirming her notion of protecting Nick above anything and everything else.

 _I really don't like where this could be going,_ Nick thought. _But I'll deal with that once this boss is toast._

The Adephagos roared as its body began to shift, the blue tentacle winding around to face the players that fought it, and swirls of water surrounding its body.

"All right, looks like water's up next," Katelyn proclaimed.

To everyone's surprise, however, the Adephagos raised its blue tentacle, then snapped it down, causing bolts of lightning to start raining down across the arena.

"Okay, no one said it could do _that_!" the Salamander general growled.

"Maybe it didn't use lightning against the other scouts?" Tecchi wondered.

Even as more lightning bolts continued to cascade down from the sky, Nick decided to rush in and attack. Yuuki was about to try and stop him when a bolt struck him, but, to Yuuki's surprise, it didn't slow him down and barely did any damage.

Nick simply gestured to the lightning bolt-shaped earring he had before closing in to start wailing on the Adephagos. He had come prepared upon learning the boss could utilize the four elements. Since lightning in this game was considered a sub-class of the water element (you know, thunderstorms and all that), Nick had synthesized a Shock Charm recently, an item that massively boosted his resistance to both water and thunder magic.

 _After all, I was sick and_ _ **tired**_ _of that stupid field dungeon and getting my wings nearly fried off almost_ _ **two hundred times**_ _,_ Nick thought. _Never making_ _ **that**_ _mistake again._

After slashing a good few times, Nick looked up just in time for the debuff he cast to wear off and the Adephagos glared down at him with its evil red eyes.

"Yeah, I'm looking at you, ugly," Nick taunted. "You wanna tango?"

The Adephagos growled in challenge and began firing bolts of electricity from its eyes while dropping waves of water towards him. Nick began deftly dodging each attack as best he could, raising the Dreamcloud to defend himself when he couldn't dodge.

The frontline spellcasters took this as their cue to start unleashing a bunch of wind spells towards the Adephagos while it was busy trying to flash-fry Nick.

The battle raged on for another ten minutes, the spellcasters switching out every few minutes to allow the tired ones time to recharge, heal, and keep everyone in the game while the Sleeping Knights decided to do most of the physical attacking.

Thankfully, this phase seemed to be rather simple, mostly having the Adephagos drop lightning bolts from the sky and fire off solid bullets of water at the tanks, who stood strong against the assault.

This time, Nick was the one to finish off the health bar by way of a Bullet Dive to the Adephagos' back, destroying the water tentacle and one pair of its evil eyes.

"All right, we're making progress now!" Nori shouted.

The Adephagos gurgled some kind of odd roar-like noise before extending its green tentacle and snapping it down, unleashing a powerful gust that blew the Sleeping Knights backwards.

"Okay, now _that's_ just not nice," Tecchi growled.

"Bring it on, blowhard!" Katelyn shouted, brandishing her swords and charging straight for the Adephagos, not noticing that its legs were raising as she approached.

"Oh, crap," Jun quipped.

"KATELYN, WATCH OUT!" Nick shouted.

Katelyn only had time to look up as the Adephagos brought two of its legs down, both appendages lined by razor-sharp steel, and slashed them in a cross strike across Katelyn's body, sending her flying back towards Nick.

Nick attempted to catch her, only for her body to explode into shards of light before he could, leaving only her Remain Light.

Katelyn had been at full health before that attack.

"Oh, shit, that attack's a one-hit kill!" Nick exclaimed, now glad he had learned a revival spell. Nick stood back to chant his revival spell even as Yuuki stood in front of him.

"I'll watch your back, Nick! You just get her back quickly!" Yuuki exclaimed, unleashing an Ethereal Blades spell on the Adephagos and driving it back even as it tried to advance further.

A few seconds later, Nick finished his spell, and rings of light surrounded Katelyn's Remain Light, reforming her right on the spot.

"Wha... what happened?" Katelyn gasped.

"You kinda got owned," Nick sighed. "No one was expecting that attack to be a one hit kill, honestly."

"Oh, Nick, thank you for bringing me back!" Katelyn exclaimed, throwing herself forward and hugging Nick tightly.

"Uck... y-you're welcome," Nick gasped.

"Hey, Katelyn, save the hugs for when we're done here! We're barely even halfway finished with this thing!" Yuuki shouted, casting Ethereal Blades again to keep the Adephagos from getting any closer with those deadly blade arms.

"Just keep it from advancing, and I'll go wail on it," Katelyn proclaimed. "This thing made Nick worry. And _no one_ messes with him and lives to brag."

Even as Katelyn rushed towards the Adephagos, Nick and Yuuki just glanced at each other, wondering what exactly had made Katelyn say _that_ in particular.

The Adephagos once again attempted to use its one-hit kill blade attack, but Katelyn was ready this time, raising both of her swords to block the strike, then pushing out to knock the blade arms away and give her an opening.

"Now you die!" Katelyn shouted, beginning her attack by thrusting her swords forward together, then slashing them both outwards, then performing a backwards somersault and slashing inwards with both blades, creating an X shape similar to Mother's Rosario.

Katelyn then took her left sword and traced a half-circle to the left, then did the same with the right sword, creating a light circle around the X.

For the final blow, Katelyn took a quick jump backwards before charging back towards the Adephagos, slashing with both blades so forcefully that she shattered the image she'd created with her earlier sword strikes and cleaved two large lines through the Adephagos, ending up on the other side of the boss.

Katelyn swung her swords triumphantly as the third health bar drained completely, and another tentacle exploded into shards of light.

"How long have we been at this?" Tecchi asked.

"At least half an hour," Siune responded.

"Holy crap, half an hour and we're only halfway done with this thing?!" Jun exclaimed.

"It seems the bosses are getting tougher and tougher the higher we go," Nori conceded, watching as the Adephagos raised its last tentacle, the golden yellow one, and began smashing it across the ground, causing stalagmites of rock and granite to erupt from every spot it attacked.

This forced the spellcasters who were closing in to keep their distance to avoid getting skewered.

"You thinking what I am, Yuuki?" Nick asked.

"Oh, yeah!" Yuuki giggled as she and Nick rushed to behind the Adephagos, a common vulnerable spot. One thing they'd noticed about the Adephagos was that it couldn't turn very well on the spot, often allowing players to get behind it and deal some good damage before it could catch up.

Nick and Yuuki raised their swords once they were sure the Adephagos' attention wasn't on them.

" _Switch Combination: Extreme Stars!"_ Nick and Yuuki shouted together.

Nick was the first to attack, slashing diagonally upwards and left, then diagonally downwards and right, then switching with Yuuki, who slashed straight horizontally, then diagonally down left and diagonally down right, their slashes forming the shape of a star. Finally, they both thrust their swords straight through the center of the star they'd created with their attacks, shattering the star and heavily damaging the Adephagos, even as it turned its attention to them.

"We should probably make ourselves scarce," Nick quipped.

"Good idea!" Yuuki shouted as the Adephagos whipped its tentacle at them, and they dove away just in time to avoid getting speared by a much larger stalagmite.

When the Adephagos was down to half of its fourth health bar, stalactites actually began dropping from the ceiling, forcing the spellcasters to stay on the move.

"Okay, this thing is _really_ starting to get on my nerves," Nori growled, swinging her sword to cut down another stalactite.

Yuuki, however, was already rushing forward once the next wave of stalactites fell. Much like she had done during the boss fight on floor twenty-seven, Yuuki leaped off of someone's shoulders, this time Nick's, to get enough height to attack the boss head on. _Seriously, this is one of the many reasons I hate not being able to fly in dungeons,_ Yuuki thought.

Regardless of her thoughts, Yuuki readied her sword and lashed out with a Mother's Rosario to the Adephagos' face, finishing off the fourth health bar and shattering the last of its combat tentacles. Yuuki wall-kicked off of the Adephagos' body to land safely on the ground and rejoin the rest of the Sleeping Knights.

"Okay, so what's the last thing?" Tecchi wondered. "All we know is that it could use the four classical elements."

Just then, the last remaining light from the outskirts of the boss arena faded completely, giving the room an ominous feeling.

"Oh, I don't like where this is going," Nick quipped, readying the Crystallic Saber for whatever madness he knew was about to erupt.

The Adephagos slowly turned towards the raid party, its remaining pair of eyes now glowing a dark and oppressive shade of purple. The instant its eyes opened, a dark, blood-red glow overtook the arena.

"Is anyone else freaking out here?!" one of the spellcasters, a Gnome, exclaimed.

" _FOOLISH FAIRIES,"_ a loud voice boomed.

"Wait, this boss _talks_?!" Yuuki shouted.

"Okay, _that's_ a new one," Nick quipped. "I've never heard a _floor_ boss talk before."

" _I COMMEND YOU FOR ACTUALLY HARMING ME AS MUCH AS YOU HAVE,"_ the Adephagos proclaimed. _"HOWEVER, THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL DIE. PREPARE TO FACE MY UNYIELDING WRATH!"_

The arena began rumbling as the Adephagos started literally glowing with flashes of both light and darkness.

"Oh, boy," Katelyn quipped.

No sooner had she said that then the Adephagos reared back, then thrust its evil face forward, unleashing a gigantic beam of darkness tinted with holy light.

"SCATTER!" Nick shouted, and many of the spellcasters moved away to avoid the massive beam attack. The few that didn't move in time were all blasted into the nearby wall, their health nearly gone.

"Holy crap, this thing's getting serious now," Nick groaned.

"Well, then let's pour it on!" Yuuki exclaimed. "We're not going to let this stop us! The Sleeping Knights _never_ surrender!"

As the able spellcasters moved to heal their allies, the tanks moved into formation, raising their shields to form a large wall, and Nick, Katelyn, and the Sleeping Knights all charged towards the Adephagos, intent on ending this boss once and for all.

Vortexes of darkness opened underneath the Sleeping Knights, but they easily dodged each one before moving in to the one spot they'd always been able to reliably attack, the Adephagos' back.

Nori, Tecchi, Talken, and Jun all began hacking away at the Adephagos while Siune focused on healing her friends at regular intervals in case any attacks slipped through.

The spellcasters, once they were all healed, continued to fire off multiple spells towards the Adephagos, though each spell did much less damage now, no doubt due to the boss gaining a big defense buff for its final phase.

Regardless, due to the combination of rapid-fire spells and the Sleeping Knights' unrelenting physical assault, it didn't take much longer for the Adephagos to be brought to its limits.

Nick, Yuuki, and Katelyn all charged forward, each one unleashing their Original Sword Skills one after another. Katelyn started by destroying the Adephagos' flailing legs with Full Lunar Eclipse, Nick avoided a slash from the Adephagos' bladed arms then ravaged the body with Ars Arcanum, and Yuuki finished the combo by unleashing Mother's Rosario on the head when it fell down due to having its legs destroyed.

When the blistering combination ended, the Adephagos was down to its last bit of health.

"All right, who wants to do the honors?" Yuuki asked.

"I finished off that field boss, so I say Nick should get the honor!" Katelyn proclaimed.

"Eh, why the hell not? It's been ages since I got the last blow on a boss," Nick quipped, backing up a few steps before running forward and jumping into the waiting arms of both Yuuki and Katelyn, so they could both throw him into the air and give him the height he needed to make this decisive blow truly count.

The Adephagos could do naught by gaze in helplessness as Nick approached, his crystal blade approaching faster with every second.

"Now say goodnight, bug boy!" Nick shouted for dramatic effect as he thrust Crystallic Saber forward and pierced straight through the Adephagos' head, finally completely depleting its health.

Not content with just that, however, Nick clutched his weapon tightly before pulling it downward so that the blade cut through the head to the face, then pushed himself downward until he reached the ground, effectively bisecting the Adephagos.

" _WRETCHED FAIRIES... HOW... HOW DID YOU..."_ were the Adephagos' last words as its form wobbled and glitched before exploding into shards of light that rained down across the battlefield.

"And victory goes to us!" Yuuki exclaimed, dashing over to hug Nick once the battle was finally over.

"Holy _hell_ , that battle took _fifty minutes_ ," Nick gasped before collapsing into Yuuki's embrace. "Let's hope that the next floor boss isn't that nuts, because _jeez_..."

"Hey, I think you were awesome, Nick!" Katelyn giggled, jumping out to hug Nick from behind.

"Eh, you got the ladies throwing themselves at you, huh?" Jun teased.

"Oh, don't you start now," Nick groaned, to which Yuuki and Katelyn just laughed.

As Siune walked over to heal her guildmates, Nick noticed a window popping up in front of him.

 _ **LAST ATTACK BONUS RECEIVED!  
**_ _ **You acquired: Element Saber**_

Nick checked his inventory to see what he'd received, and it turned out to be a brand new sword. In contrast to Crystallic Saber's blade resembling a scimitar, this blade was more like a normal broadsword, only it seemed to be glowing with the colors of all six elemental attributes. Now curious, Nick checked out its information and saw that he could infuse the blade with any of the six elements at any time, though Nick probably figured it could only be one at a time.

 _Still, that seems_ _ **incredibly**_ _useful, especially when it comes to abusing elemental weakness,_ Nick thought. _I'll have to look into that._

And at long last, the fully-healed raid party made their way to the newly-activated teleport gate that would lead them to floor thirty-one.

"Well, shall we go see what floor thirty-one is like?" Nick asked.

"I'm all for it!" Yuuki proclaimed.

As Nick and Yuuki joined the rest of the Sleeping Knights in their rush to the teleport gate, they just missed Katelyn watching them with a rather unnerving smile.

"Soon, Nick, you _will_ be mine..." Katelyn cackled to herself as she logged out. "I won't let even the Absolute Sword stop me!"

 _Floor thirty-one, Jerado, nighttime..._

"Woooooow!" Yuuki exclaimed upon taking in the full splendor of Jerado, the main capital of floor thirty-one. Jerado primarily resembled an old Egyptian town, with an expansive desert just outside the city, and pyramids and ancient towers all over the expanse.

"Holy cow, this must be a treasure hunter's paradise if all those ruins are any indication!" Nick gasped.

"Come on, Nick, let's go explore!" Yuuki laughed, taking Nick's hand and dashing off towards the dunes.

"Wait, before we go," Nick quipped.

"What's up?" Yuuki asked.

Nick smiled brightly as he leaned forward to kiss Yuuki, who gladly returned it.

"I love you, Yuuki," Nick stated.

"I love you, too, Nick," Yuuki responded.

Hand in hand, Nick and Yuuki took off for the dunes outside of Jerado, ready to see just what the ruins and catacombs had in store for them.

Katelyn watched on from the shadows, watching them move away from the city.

"Well, I think it's time we begin phase three," Katelyn quipped to herself before she headed to the item shop to gear up for her own adventures.

 _To be continued..._

* * *

On the next episode...

Yuuki: Floor thirty-one is _amazing_!

Nick: And full of sand, too. Like, _two cubic tons_ of sand.

Yuuki: And what do ya know, we're finding some neat-o items in these catacombs, too! They really must have gone all out for this floor.

Nick: I figured they'd go easy on us after the hell we went through in that last boss fight.

Katelyn: Hey, did you guys hear what happened in the real world?

Yuuki: No, what?

Katelyn: An ALfheim Online player was found dead in their apartment! Someone tampered with their Amusphere while they were playing and short-circuited it!

Yuuki: Hold on, short-circuited?!

Nick: _Wonderful_. Here's hoping Sword Art Online isn't about to repeat itself... Next time on _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:_ , "Colors of Life and Death"!

Nick and Yuuki: This may be a game, but it's not something you play!


	3. Colors of Life and Death

Nick made one final slash to get rid of a pesky monster spawn as they continued their climb back out of the catacombs. "Man, what is the _problem_ with all of these monsters so suddenly?!" Nick exclaimed.

"Maybe they're just mad that we got the treasure here," Yuuki quipped as she bisected another beast with an overhead swing. "Everyone's been saying that monster spawns start picking up big time whenever a treasure's found in one of these places."

"Not that I object to that kind of thing, but holy _hell_ , it seems like it's five times worse with this one!" Nick proclaimed.

"I think we're almost out, though, so it shouldn't be much longer before we can leave this place behind," Yuuki replied, cutting down another feral beast with her Sharp Nail sword skill, a series of two left-to-right slashes followed by a third overhead slash. "I'm just hoping we don't run into a sandstorm again, like we did last time."

"Ugh, don't remind me of _that_ painful slog," Nick groaned as they neared a light up ahead. Jerado, the capital of floor thirty-one, occasionally suffered from pretty fierce sandstorms in the dunes outside the city. Needless to say, trying to get around easily during a sandstorm was next to impossible, as Nick and Yuuki had found out personally.

The two of them were just a few of the many who were spread out across the dunes searching for whatever randomly generated treasure awaited in the ruins and catacombs. After about a week after opening the floor, many people had pieced together a pattern to the ruins. They would usually be open until a sandstorm started, then they would reopen the next game day with their treasure reset to something different.

"Hey, there's the exit!" Yuuki exclaimed. "Let's blow this pop stand!"

"You read my mind perfectly," Nick replied, and together, they dashed like mad for the entryway, coming out the other side back in the dunes, just in time for a sandstorm to start sweeping through the area and bury the catacombs they had just searched through in a mountain of sand.

No one knew what happened if a player was trapped inside the catacombs when the sandstorms buried them, but no one wanted to find out regardless, so it was all good.

"Man, it's really bad," Nick quipped. "I'm glad this isn't actually a _real_ sandstorm, but that doesn't make it any less of a pain to deal with."

"I feel you there," Yuuki admitted. "Let's get back to Jerado."

Nick watched as other players ran like mad just to get out of the sandstorm and into the comforting presence of the safe zone.

Just then, something extremely strange happened.

One of the players at the back of the pack, an Undine with short, spiky blue hair, suddenly stopped in the middle of his run, his posture going completely rigid.

Nick actually recognized this particular Undine, believe it or not. He had decided to accost Nick after a catacomb run and tried to attack him for his treasure. Nick had basically said "nuts to that" and forced the Undine to retreat.

Before Nick or Yuuki could even wonder what was happening, the Undine let out a strange choking noise before his avatar exploded into shards of light, the common death animation.

The strange thing, though? The Undine had been at nearly full health before that.

Nick and Yuuki glanced at each other, wondering just what the heck had just happened.

* * *

(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)

 **The Blue Time Ranger** is proud to present...  
 _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:  
_ **Story Created:** January 24th, 2018  
 **Story Rated:** T for Teen

 **Story Summary:** What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?

 **On Today's Episode:** While Nick and Yuuki are exploring the many ruins and catacombs of Jerado, trouble seems to be brewing in the real world. At least three players of ALfheim Online have died in real life under mysterious circumstances. Some are afraid that a serial killer on the loose. Others are afraid that the horrors of Sword Art Online are about to repeat itself. Is the culprit just another wacko, or could it possibly be...

 **And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I _did_ own Sword Art Online, which I _don't_ , why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

* * *

Episode 3: Colors of Life and Death

"Wait, so he just died on the spot?" Nori wondered, brushing some of her hair back.

"Yeah, it was the weirdest thing," Yuuki admitted. She and Nick were currently residing in Jerado's inn, alongside the rest of the Sleeping Knights, to discuss what they were going to do on their next adventure trip. "He had mostly full health, too, so I'm not sure what happened."

"Maybe some wacko got the drop on him and you just didn't see who it was?" Jun wondered.

"Well, that sandstorm _was_ making it hard to see much else," Nick realized. "That's probably what happened. It was just strange to actually watch. And in the sixteen years I've been around, I've seen a _lot_ of strange things."

"Okay, okay, let's not dwell on the weird stuff," Yuuki giggled. "We're still going to that big pyramid later today, right?"

"You know it," Tecchi proclaimed.

"A lot of players are stating that it's a prime spot for power-leveling, with many strong monsters to fight," Siune explained.

"How much do you wanna bet that Kirito and Asuna are going to be there, too?" Nick laughed. "I was kinda surprised that they weren't with us during the boss fight."

"I think Sinon dragged him on a quest that day," Yuuki answered. "Something about a legendary bow she wanted to snag."

"Wait, wasn't that the one she's been harping on since she joined ALO?" Nick asked.

"Yep!" Yuuki laughed. "Once she gets _that_ thing, everyone better watch out!"

Once their meeting was finished, the Sleeping Knights all decided to go train in the dunes to ready themselves for the trip to the pyramid, while Nick and Yuuki returned to Dahngrest when they heard from another player that a new quest was available back on floor thirty.

"So, what do you think _this_ new quest is gonna be, Nick?" Yuuki wondered.

"Could be anything," Nick admitted. "I'm just hoping it's a good one."

Out of nowhere, Nick pulled Yuuki into a hug. "Hey, Yuuki? I love you."

"Aw, I love you, too, Nick," Yuuki giggled.

"I just want to say it as much as I can, considering how fate can be at times," Nick answered. "So in case something goes wrong, I can safely say that I spent my time with you as fully as I possibly could."

"You can be pretty philosophical at times, Nick," Yuuki stated.

"I guess I got it from my dad," Nick admitted. "He does that a lot, too."

"SOMEBODY HELP!"

Nick and Yuuki snapped to attention upon hearing that cry for help. "Where _was_ that?" Nick exclaimed.

"That came from outside the city!" Yuuki exclaimed. "I don't think it's too far, so let's get moving!"

Nick and Yuuki joined hands and dashed off to investigate the disturbance.

Once they'd reached the spot where that call had originated, Nick couldn't help but grimace at the sight: two rather burly players, a Spriggan and a Salamander, were advancing threateningly on a young Cait Sith that seemed to be out of items, if her frantically reaching into her item pocket only to come up empty-handed was any indication.

"I told you, I don't have anything! I used up all my items while training in that pyramid on floor thirty-one!" the Cait Sith shouted.

"Then, I guess we'll have to take another form of payment," the Spriggan laughed. "How about you hand over those two lovely kitties and _maybe_ we might let you go."

" _Might_ ," the Salamander cackled.

"Don't you _dare_ touch Kemi and Mata!" the Cait Sith growled, holding her two familiars close to her. "They're all I have!"

"Well, that's the price you pay for running blindly into danger zones without any items on hand," the Spriggan proclaimed. "Maybe next time you'll learn your lesson."

But just as the Spriggan pushed the Cait Sith aside to snatch up the familiars (who resembled small lions but with cat-like features), Nick was over there in a flash, summoning his brand-new Element Saber and infusing it with holy magic to slash the Spriggan across the chest and knock him away. Yuuki capitalized on the distraction to send the Salamander flying with Ethereal Blades.

"All right, assholes, you'd _better_ have a _very good reason_ for bullying her," Nick growled, the Element Saber's blade shining with holy light. "I _really_ don't like players like you, y'know."

"Same here!" Yuuki proclaimed. "The only thing that really cheeses me off is bullies. So you'd better plead your case, and _maybe_ we _might_ let you off easy."

" _Might_ ," Nick continued.

"Who do you little brats think you are?!" the Spriggan proclaimed, drawing a large broadsword almost like the one Kirito had used on his first journey through ALO.

"Oh, just a young Imp girl and her Spriggan boyfriend," Yuuki teased. "Who don't take kindly to bullies."

"So you'd best prepare yourself for a dual ass-kicking!" Nick shouted. Not needing any more words, Nick and Yuuki charged.

Yuuki started by unleashing a Sharp Nail on the Salamander to trip him up, and then decided to go all out and drain his health quickly with Mother's Rosario.

"You _punk_!" the Spriggan growled, hefting his sword and swinging it in an overhead chop to try and catch Yuuki off guard, but she easily dodged it before blasting the Spriggan back with a vertical uppercut slash.

Nick moved in after Yuuki to finish off the Salamander with a jumping slash before turning his attention to the Spriggan.

"Last chance to back away, unless you wanna be swiss cheese like your buddy," Nick quipped. The Spriggan just shouted and blindly rushed him. "That's what I thought."

Nick raised the Dreamcloud as the Spriggan swung his sword. The guy was completely uncoordinated, after all, with clumsy swings that were easily predictable. As the large blade bounced harmlessly off of the Dreamcloud, Nick shoved his shield forward, unbalancing the Spriggan so Nick could move in for the kill, switching Element Saber's element to fire for extra damage and unleashing Ars Arcanum on the Spriggan.

Once the attack was over, the Spriggan let out a cry of disbelief before exploding into shards and leaving his Remain Light behind.

"And that's that," Nick quipped, sheathing Element Saber. "Freakin' bullies."

Nick then softened his expression before turning to the Cait Sith he and Yuuki had just rescued. She had short purple hair, slightly pale skin, and was wearing a pink cloth wrapped around her forehead. She also had a dark pink sash around her waist and long, white sleeves with pink cuffs.

"You okay?" Nick asked, extending a hand to help the Cait Sith to her feet. "Sorry you had to go through that."

"I could have taken them if I just had items," the Cait Sith sighed. "I used up all of my items inside the pyramid, and since I was low on health, I was heading back to Dahngrest to restock and recharge when those stupid bullies jumped me. I _hate_ feeling so weak, but I didn't think anyone was around that could help me..."

The Cait Sith suddenly gasped in surprise, brushing off her robes. "Oh, sorry, where are my manners? My name's Hanmyo, and these are my familiars Kemi and Mata. Thank the both of you for helping me out."

"It's no problem, Hanmyo," Yuuki stated. "We stick up for players who need help!"

"You said you came from that gigantic pyramid on floor thirty-one, right?" Nick asked. "We were actually on our way there to see what it's got in store."

"If it's your first trip, you may need someone who's done this before," Hanmyo proclaimed. "How about this? Once I'm done restocking in Dahngrest, I'll accompany you through the pyramid. That's the _only_ reason I was out of items, after all, I spent so much time in there that I had to leave to restock. That place is almost as big as a floor labyrinth at times, I swear."

"Sounds like we've got our work cut out for us, then," Nick quipped.

After sending Hanmyo a party request, the trio began the trek back to Dahngrest to restock and recharge for the trip through the pyramid.

As they set out for the teleport gate, however, Nick sensed something strange and spun around towards the nearby pillar just in time to see a flash of a very familiar cloak before it vanished from sight.

"Is someone watching us?" Hanmyo quipped, reaching for her twin daggers.

"Nick, did you see the cloak?" Yuuki asked.

"How could I _not_?" Nick answered. "Seriously, what _is_ her game?"

"Do you know our stalker or something?" Hanmyo wondered.

"It's a long story," Nick admitted. "We'll tell you on the way to the pyramid. Teleport: Jerado!"

Katelyn peeked out from behind the pillar once the trio had vanished into the teleport gate. "Whew, that was close," Katelyn sighed before checking her list. "Can't have them figuring me out too quickly. That would just ruin everything. Wait, hold on, they're going to the pyramid, aren't they?"

Katelyn looked back at her list, suddenly realizing something.

"Crap! I've gotta get there myself!" Katelyn shouted, rushing to the teleport gate. "I can't let them get too close to him! Teleport: Jerado!"

 _Floor thirty-one, The Pyramid of the Elders..._

"Incoming!" Hanmyo exclaimed as another scorpion monster dropped down from the walls. Nick and Yuuki finished off the one they were fighting with a dual overhead slash, then leaped to the side to avoid the one that had fallen from the ceiling.

Hanmyo immediately rushed in before the scorpion could strike and unleashed her Mirage Fang sword skill, a series of six zig-zagging strikes with the final slash lifting Hanmyo into the air slightly.

Nick rushed in to attack with a Bullet Dive, driving the scorpion back to the ground so Yuuki could finish the job. However, the scorpion had other ideas, its tail lashing out to slice Yuuki across the chest. As Yuuki leaped back, she suddenly felt sluggish and checked her status window. Indeed, she had been poisoned by that attack.

"You little son of a..." Nick growled, ready to slice the scorpion into ribbons for poisoning Yuuki.

"Mata, heal her!" Hanmyo exclaimed, and the red lion bellowed, its body shining with a soft green light. That same light surrounded Yuuki's body and cured her status ailments.

"Oh, cool, you can heal statues with them?" Yuuki stated.

"Mata can," Hanmyo explained. "He's the support mage. Kemi usually handles offensive spells. They're the mages when I can't use magic."

"Something tells me Silica would love you," Nick quipped. "Now suck on _this_ , scorpion boy!"

Nick rushed forward to finish off the scorpion with a Horizontal Square, slashing four times to create a square of light that exploded around the scorpion and destroyed it.

"And that's what you get," Nick proclaimed.

Yuuki opted to watch other players fight their way through the pyramid as the three of them recovered. Many of them seemed to be having the same thoughts as they were, namely _why is this pyramid so damn gigantic?!_

A Gnome raised his mace to smash it onto another scorpion's head, only for him to freeze in mid-swing with a pained expression. Before Yuuki could make a move to help him, the Gnome's avatar suddenly exploded into shards of light.

"Again?" Yuuki gasped. The Gnome, just like the Undine they had seen die in the sandstorm, had been pretty close to full health.

And this time, Yuuki had been watching the Gnome closely, her vision unencumbered by any sandstorms. She hadn't seen _anyone_ approach the Gnome to attack him, and she didn't know of any Sword Skill that could insta-kill another player.

That meant something was very wrong.

"Wait, didn't that guy have almost full health?" Hanmyo wondered once she realized what had just happened.

"Yeah, and this isn't the first time we saw this," Nick explained. "An Undine bit the dust in the dunes outside earlier, but we just assumed someone sniped him that we couldn't see because of the sandstorms."

"Move it! Get out of my way!"

Nick snapped his gaze to the northwest hallway, where he could clearly see Katelyn swinging her dual swords to cut through scorpions and golems with no remorse.

"Hey, guys! Did you see the news?!" Katelyn exclaimed.

"Wait, Katelyn?" Nick wondered. "What's going on?"

"J-just look!" Katelyn proclaimed, still slightly flustered, as she opened her information window to show a video that had been playing on the news channel she'd been tuned to all day.

The headline was what caught Nick and Yuuki's attention.

 _ **LOCAL ALFHEIM ONLINE PLAYER FOUND DEAD IN HIS HOME DUE TO TAMPERING WITH AMUSPHERE.**_

"Wait, someone actually _died_?!" Yuuki exclaimed.

"Yeah! The news people said it's because someone broke into his house, deliberately tampered with his Amusphere, and short-circuited it!" Katelyn explained. "The eyewitness reports from here say he just exploded in the middle of the field with almost full health!"

"Hold on just a damn second," Nick proclaimed. "So, that guy who seemingly just vanished in the dunes..."

"...and that guy we just saw fighting that scorpion..." Yuuki realized.

" _They actually died in real life?!"_ Nick and Yuuki shouted together.

"Wait, another person died, too?" Katelyn gasped.

"Yeah, a big, buff Gnome just exploded in the middle of his swing a few minutes before you got here," Hanmyo explained.

"Oh, god, you don't think we've got another nutcase going around, do you?" Nick groaned. "I've got this feeling that once this story starts spreading, a lot of people might think that the SAO incident is happening again."

"It could just be an isolated incident," Yuuki stated. "Just some dumbbell who tried to do something he probably shouldn't have."

"Aren't you guys worried that you might be next?" Katelyn asked.

"Oh, please," Nick laughed. "Yuuki and I are playing in a _very_ secure location, where there's a lot of people around. I think if someone _is_ trying to off players like this, they'd have to get past a _lot_ of roving eyes to get anywhere close to us."

"It's nice to be so confident," Katelyn laughed, only to turn around upon receiving a new notification. "Oh, I gotta go. Mom's calling me. Good luck on your pyramid run, you guys!"

With that, Katelyn swiped through her menu before logging out.

"Okay then," Hanmyo sighed before unleashing a Mirage Fang on an approaching golem as Kemi and Mata flanked Nick and Yuuki to support them with various buffs and elemental spells.

 _That night, somewhere in the real world..._

Katelyn slipped her Amusphere off of her head, still a little nervous. She wasn't sure if anyone had seen through her façade. After all, she knew for a _fact_ she'd seen Hanmyo giving her a suspicious look before logging out.

After sitting up and donning her favorite shoes, she slowly walked by her mother's room, making sure to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake her.

 _She does way too much,_ Katelyn thought. _I really wish she'd ditch that job, for her sake if anything. I_ _ **really**_ _don't like her boss._

Righting her train of thought for the moment (she'd deal with _that_ loose end later), Katelyn jogged out the front door before following the path she had traced on her cell phone. In the week that the raid team had been combing the floor thirty labyrinth, Katelyn had realized that Yuuki was currently enrolled at Yokohama Kōhoku General Hospital due to AIDS, even though the virus had been getting weaker and more easily treatable as of late.

Which no doubt meant that Nick was also there, too, if their current relationship was any indication. Nick would most likely want to spend as much time with his girlfriend as possible.

 _Oh, Nick, why can't you see how wonderful I am?_ Katelyn thought as she made her way to the hospital. _Okay, Katelyn, play it cool._

"Oh, hello, young lady," the receptionist stated as Katelyn walked up to the front desk. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh, yes, I'm here to visit patient 27-B, Yuuki Konno," Katelyn explained. "I met her in ALfheim Online and I wanted to visit her in person and give her my well-wishes for surviving as long as she has."

"It's nice to know that Konno-san has so many friends," the receptionist laughed. "Just sign in here and you'll be good to go."

"Thanks, miss," Katelyn replied as she wrote her name on the sign-in sheet before moving towards the elevator that would take her to Yuuki's floor.

Once inside, Katelyn marveled at the Medicuboid that Yuuki was using, since she'd never heard of such a device before any of this. It was nothing like an Amusphere, that was for sure. Katelyn had heard some whispers from nearby hospital staff that it was actually based on a modified NerveGear.

 _If that's true, then this will make my job even easier,_ Katelyn thought, stepping closer to the Medicuboid and reaching into her pocket.

As she retrieved a screwdriver to unscrew the battery cover, Katelyn moved closer, ready to put an end to it...

...when she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

 _Wait. What am I doing?_ Katelyn thought, her hand shaking. _Katelyn, focus! You need to eliminate her from the picture, while she's still in ALO and vulnerable!_

Still, she felt conflicted. _But isn't your utmost priority Nick's happiness? He's clearly happy with Yuuki! You wouldn't want to ruin that, would you?_

Katelyn clutched her head, as if both sides of her mind were arguing with each other. _But... he's supposed to be mine! I can't let anyone else have him!_

 _But what was that you said about his happiness being the most important thing to you?!_

Shaking her head to clear the voices away for the moment, Katelyn decided to just go for it and worry about the consequences when she got there.

But just as she was about to start sliding the screwdriver into the battery on the Medicuboid, she heard what sounded like a yawn. She snapped her gaze towards Nick, who was just waking up from his trip into ALfheim Online.

 _Crapbaskets,_ Katelyn thought.

"Hanmyo was right," Nick quipped. "That place was gigantic."

"It's too bad we couldn't find the boss on that run," Yuuki laughed, reaching up to pull the Medicuboid off of her head, completely ignorant of Katelyn's presence in the room. "Lots of players are saying there's a pretty tough boss somewhere in that pyramid."

"Here's hoping, huh?" Nick laughed as he stuffed his Amusphere back into his backpack.

Katelyn decided that, with both Nick and Yuuki distracted, now was the perfect opportunity to get the hell out of there.

"Well, I guess we can give it another go tomorrow, huh?" Yuuki stated. "...huh?"

"What is it?" Nick asked. Wait. He heard it, too.

Nick jumped right to his feet upon catching wind of something that shouldn't have been there.

"Who's there?!" Nick challenged, looking up just in time to see an extremely brief flash of Katelyn's long ponytail before it vanished from sight.

"Um... was Katelyn just in here?" Yuuki wondered. "Because I'm pretty sure that was her ponytail."

Nick had just realized something he hadn't before, as if the earlier corners of his mind had been trying to play catch-up.

"Something up, Nick?" Yuuki asked.

"Now that I think of it... Katelyn seems very familiar to me..." Nick posited. "Like I've seen her before..."

"Maybe she's someone you knew when you were younger but forgot about for whatever reason?" Yuuki wondered.

"If that's true, then I feel even worse, because I don't forget about my friends, _ever_ ," Nick sighed.

"Maybe you two were really young when you were separated, and that's why you don't remember," Yuuki stated. "Why don't you ask her next time we see her?"

"Good idea," Nick replied. "Because I know my brain isn't going to let it go until I get some answers."

"Hey, tell your mom I said hi, 'kay?" Yuuki asked. "I'd really like to meet her someday."

"Will do, Yuuki," Nick responded as he and Yuuki leaned in to kiss each other.

Katelyn skidded to a stop on the roof, panting heavily from a combination of exertion and the realization of what she was about to do.

 _I couldn't do it,_ Katelyn thought. _Why? All I had to do was jam that freaking screwdriver in there and_ _ **twist**_ _. That would have short-circuited the damn thing and put an end to her. Why couldn't I go through with it?_

Katelyn knew why, though, even if the rest of her mind was waiting to catch up. Her heart knew the reason. She couldn't kill Yuuki because Nick would be sad, and Katelyn had promised herself that it would be the one thing she _never_ did to him, despite everything.

 _Crap, why is this so hard?_ Katelyn thought. _What's wrong with me?_

She knew she wouldn't get any answers just arguing with her own mind, so Katelyn decided to book it for home, awaiting her next adventure in ALfheim Online and hoping that Nick would never find out what had just happened, or what she'd already gotten away with.

She couldn't stand the thought of Nick hating her for what she'd done.

* * *

"Hey, mom, I'm home!" Nick called once he'd reached his house.

"I'm in the kitchen, honey, just getting tomorrow's meals ready," Rhea Kelly answered. She often liked to make meals ahead of time, just in case something came up at her job and she couldn't make it for dinner, and considering Nick was pretty much a self-admitted horrible cook, it helped a lot.

 _I really should ask mom to teach me how to use that freaking oven before I graduate,_ Nick thought. _I mean, for crying out loud, it's the year_ _ **two-thousand twenty six**_ _and I'm still a bad oven user! Ugh, bad memories..._

"How was your adventure today?" Rhea asked. She had grown up in a time when video games were only something you played on a console on your television, not something you actually immersed yourself into via advanced virtual reality. However, that didn't mean she wasn't interested, as she actually had an account on ALO, per Nick's suggestion. Naturally, the only time she would be on ALO for any consistent length was on the weekends, when he job wasn't pressuring her. Despite this, Rhea had adjusted quickly, often joining Nick and her husband Jeff on certain dungeon runs.

"Well, we explored most of the pyramid on floor thirty-one today," Nick explained. "Sadly, we didn't find the boss yet, but I have a good feeling about tomorrow's run."

"Do you know what the boss is going to be?" Rhea asked.

"As long as it's not another damn _dragon_ , I'll be happy," Nick groaned. "I've had enough of those things for, well, probably my entire _life_ after what Fafnir did to me."

Rhea chuckled under her breath. She knew Nick was still smarting about the beatdown that Fafnir had handed him.

"Well, you said that floor thirty-one is based around ancient Egypt, right?" Rhea stated. "I'd figure that the boss would be something along the lines of a pharaoh or a really strong mummy."

"Now _that_ would be something to see," Nick quipped.

As Rhea went to wrap up tomorrow's meal, Nick decided to bite the bullet and address the elephant in the room.

"Hey, mom?" Nick asked. "When I was younger... did I know anyone named Katelyn, by any chance?"

Rhea's smile never wavered. "You always used to call her Katie, but, yeah, you did. You two were really close friends until she had to move away when she was about four. Why do you ask?"

"I've been running into her in ALO a lot lately," Nick answered. "I'd almost think she was stalking me with how much I've seen her around where I am, but maybe she just wants to make up for all the time we lost. I haven't seen her in almost _twelve years_ , apparently."

"That's probably it, then," Rhea stated. "Katie always did cling to you a lot."

"She _was_ my first real friend, now that the memories are coming back," Nick quipped. "And considering she stuck to me like glue when we fought the Adephagos, too."

As Nick conversed with his mother, he remained ignorant of Katelyn watching him from the front window.

 _Holy crap, he actually remembers me now!_ Katelyn thought. _Well, to be fair, it's been twelve years since we've seen each other. I knew he'd remember me eventually!_

Suddenly, Katelyn nearly squeaked with fright when she realized that she probably shouldn't be here at the moment, not after _that_ particular episode. Picking herself up quickly, Katelyn rushed down the street, back towards her home.

 _Here's hoping things will start looking up soon,_ Katelyn thought. _Maybe then I can silence these traitorous voices in my head._

* * *

"Wow, that's... pretty intimidating, if I say so myself," Yuuki admitted. She, Nick, and Hanmyo were standing in front of a gigantic double door inscribed with ancient Egyptian-esque hieroglyphics.

"No doubt the boss is just ahead," Hanmyo proclaimed. "You two think you're ready?"

"I've been jonesin' for this one since we started this pyramid," Nick quipped. "Let's make sure we're ready for this one, though. From what I heard, the two or three players who've already fought this boss say that it was actually kind of challenging for what's essentially a mini-boss."

"Wait up!" Katelyn shouted, once again charging down the nearby tunnel with no regard to the monsters that were still lurking or just now respawning. "You guys are taking on the boss, right? Maybe I can help, too. Four is one more than three, after all."

"Katelyn's _really_ good, in case you were wondering, Hanmyo," Yuuki stated, since Hanmyo hadn't interacted with Katelyn outside of her showing up to deliver the news report yesterday. "You should have seen her when we fought the floor thirty boss! She's like a flying curtain of _doooooooom_ when she gets going!"

"Well, then let's hope she can bring those skills to the table," Hanmyo admitted. "From the sound of things, we may need them for this fight."

Once everyone had made sure they were in peak condition, Nick walked up to the doorway and touched one of the larger symbols, causing all of the hieroglyphics to start glowing. Nick wisely took a few steps back as the door began to slowly open, revealing the arena for the boss fight to be a large and circular room with an empty casket directly in the center.

"Wait, he's already out?!" Yuuki exclaimed. "Where is he, then?"

"It's probably waiting for us to check out the casket," Hanmyo replied. "I've seen that trick before, where the fight only starts when you examine the obvious object."

"Well, at least that gives us a little more time to prepare, right?" Katelyn quipped, twirling her swords around and preparing for the battle to come.

Nick walked up to the casket and inspected it, making sure to keep his guard up in case the boss ambushed him when he did so.

"Here lies the great and mighty Pharaoh Hamenthotep," Nick read as he checked the inscription. "His deeds will be remembered for all eternity. Wait, what deeds?"

"NICK, WATCH OUT!" Yuuki and Katelyn shouted.

Nick snapped his gaze upwards just in time to see a regal but mummified figure charging menacingly towards him. Nick responded by drawing Element Saber, switching its element to fire, and slashing in an overhead arc to knock the boss back and put some space between them.

The boss in question, Pharaoh Hamenthotep, was a mostly mummified figure wearing a ceremonial headpiece as most pharaohs did, a belt with a strange ruby-red crystal embedded in its center, and had four multi-colored orbs of light spiraling around it.

"Called it," Nick quipped, recalling the conversation he'd had with his mother last night about what the boss would be.

"Let's play, pharaoh boy!" Yuuki shouted, driving Pharaoh Hamenthotep back with Ethereal Blades, only for it to mostly tank the attack, the blades doing the damage they normally would even though Pharaoh Hamenthotep moved towards them without flinching.

"Oh, great, he's got super armor, doesn't he?" Nick groaned as he dodged around a blast from one of Pharaoh Hamenthotep's orbs. "Have I mentioned that's another game thing I hate, _especially_ in RPGs?! Fighting games, I can understand because of certain attacks, but THIS?!"

"This is probably why those other players had some trouble," Yuuki quipped, rushing in to attack while Pharaoh Hamenthotep was recovering from its own attack. "Hey, Nick, doesn't your OSS pierce defenses?"

Nick nodded, a wicked grin forming on his face as Yuuki landed another slash to halt Pharaoh Hamenthotep in his place, allowing Nick to step in and unleash Ars Arcanum.

And Nick was definitely pleased to see Pharaoh Hamenthotep's health drop rapidly, no doubt assisted by Kemi and Mata unleashing their spells from behind Pharaoh Hamenthotep.

Katelyn switched in while Nick was recovering, lacerating Pharaoh Hamenthotep's bandaged body with Full Lunar Eclipse.

It wasn't much longer before Pharaoh Hamenthotep was at its limit, and it seemed to understand this, floating away from the four players and spinning its orbs around itself faster to prevent anyone from reliably attacking it.

"Oh, that's just _peachy_ ," Nick groaned.

"Allow me," Katelyn proclaimed, rushing towards where Pharaoh Hamenthotep had stopped and flailing her swords towards the boss like wildfire. Even though her swords bounced off of the spinning orb barrier more than once, Katelyn kept at it, not letting up for a second until she managed to shatter one of the orbs and temporarily stun Pharaoh Hamenthotep.

"All right, I think that'll do it!" Katelyn shouted. "Who's doing the honors this time?"

Hanmyo smiled cheekily as she summoned another dagger to her free hand. "I'll take the honors now," Hanmyo proclaimed. "It's time I showed you _my_ finishing move."

Hanmyo concentrated, both of her daggers glowing brightly as she did so.

"Kemi! Mata! Let's end this!" Hanmyo exclaimed.

Kemi and Mata responded by roaring loudly as Hanmyo charged towards Pharaoh Hamenthotep, slashing horizontally, vertically, diagonally left, diagonally right, slanted upwards, slanted downwards, and overhead with her daggers before leaping back to where Kemi and Mata were standing. Once their roars were completed, four elemental daggers exploded to life around Hanmyo.

"Now you _die_!" Hanmyo challenged as she leapt back into the fray, slashing her daggers like crazy. While she did this, the four elemental daggers began flying around Pharaoh Hamenthotep and attacking on their own. This combination made it look like Hanmyo had become a furious maelstrom of blades and slashes with how fast she was striking with her twin daggers.

Finally, Hanmyo performed an uppercut slash to send Pharaoh Hamenthotep into the air, followed by her leaping backwards and Kemi and Mata rushing under her to catch her. When Hanmyo landed on Kemi and Mata's backs, she used the momentum to propel herself high into the air, even as Kemi and Mata jumped after her.

Hanmyo prepared her daggers, joining them together to form a great dagger of light in her hands as she shot down towards the prone form of Pharaoh Hamenthotep with Kemi and Mata beside her.

"This... is the final strike!" Hanmyo exclaimed as she drove the dagger of light downwards, straight into Pharaoh Hamenthotep's head, and finished off the last of its health.

Pharaoh Hamenthotep's headpiece split itself down the middle and clattered to the ground as it exploded into shards of light.

"And that's how it's done," Hanmyo proclaimed as the reward window popped up for all four of them.

"THAT WAS AMAZING!" Katelyn exclaimed. "You were like a dance of death!"

"That's kind of the idea," Hanmyo laughed. "I created Elemental Blade Flash that way, to mesmerize my enemy so that they can't break away from my blades."

Hanmyo smiled cheekily again. "Was that a little too cheesy?"

"No cheesier than some of the things _I've_ said," Nick admitted. "You should have heard some of the cheesy one-liners I've dropped during my time in ALO."

"I'll just have to take your word for it, then," Hanmyo giggled.

As Hanmyo glanced at her fellow players, she noticed that Katelyn was pointedly avoiding her gaze. Hanmyo had, after all, given Katelyn a rather odd look before she'd logged out the other day.

 _Maybe I'm just looking too far into this,_ Hanmyo thought. _Trying to find something that might not actually be there is always a problem I've had, to be honest._

"Now, how about we get the heck out of here before the place possibly starts collapsing on us?" Yuuki offered. "That's really not something I'd like to deal with again."

"Good idea! Let's motor, people!" Katelyn exclaimed.

As the four players made their way out of the pyramid, Katelyn looked at Nick and subconsciously made the same two-finger gesture she did when she'd first met him outside the North Witch's Lair.

To her great surprise, Nick actually mirrored the gesture himself, confirming that Nick actually remembered who she was now.

 _Ooh, if he only knew how much that made my heart race... ack, Katelyn, not now, now's_ _ **not**_ _the time to start swooning, ESPECIALLY when his girlfriend's_ _ **right there**_ _!_ Katelyn thought.

Once the group had found themselves back in the Field of Dunes, Nick watched the pyramid's main doorway close up, most likely to reset the boss encounter for any other players still in the pyramid.

"Whew! Man, I am beat after all that," Yuuki sighed. "I kinda just want to zap back to Dahngrest and get something to eat. I hear the restaurant there actually has some good cheesecake, from what Silica told me."

"Then, how about I take you there for dinner, and we can have some cheesecake for dessert?" Nick offered. "I just realized that I haven't officially asked you out on a date yet, so... consider this, well, our first date. T-that is, if you want to! I probably shouldn't assume..."

Yuuki walked up and stopped Nick's flustered ramblings by kissing him on the cheek. "Stop that train of thought right there, silly. I'd _love_ to go out with you."

"Okay, good, I didn't make a mook out of myself," Nick sighed in relief.

"Well, I figure you'll want to get to that date of yours post-haste, right?" Hanmyo giggled. "We won't keep you."

"Have fun, you two!" Katelyn laughed. "Hanmyo and I are going back to the dunes to do some power-leveling."

"Roger that!" Yuuki proclaimed as she and Nick raced through the dunes to return to Jerado and use the Teleport Gate.

Once Nick and Yuuki had vanished into the Teleport Gate, Katelyn turned back to Hanmyo. "So, Hanmyo, you know this place better than I do, considering how much you said you were grinding before all of this. Do you know any good places we can power-level?"

"A few, but before we go..." Hanmyo proclaimed. "What exactly do you know about those players that died?"

"To be honest, not much besides what the news already said," Katelyn admitted. "I like to keep up with the news as much as I can, considering my mom does it, too. The instant I saw the headline, I was just as shocked as anyone else. That's why I wanted to find Nick and Yuuki first, since they were the closest to where I was."

Hanmyo's mind quieted at Katelyn's explanation. _Guess I was overthinking it. I really have to stop doing that._

Katelyn, meanwhile, was inwardly relieved that Hanmyo didn't seem to suspect her anymore. _Okay, that's a load off,_ Katelyn thought. _Gotta keep this under control, though. I don't want it blowing up in my face._

"What do you think the killer's motive is?" Hanmyo wondered. "If it _is_ a serial killer, I mean."

"Not sure, to tell the truth," Katelyn professed as she cut down another sand scorpion. _Seriously, these things are super annoying!_ "I know Amuspheres can't kill you via microwaves because of SAO, but hell if I know how these whackjob's minds work. I don't think it's a specific player thing, since the first victim was an Undine and the second was a Gnome. Maybe the wacko just doesn't pick and choose, or maybe they were specific players that he had a grudge against or something."

Katelyn chopped downwards to split another scorpion in half, and when the glowing polygons dissipated...

...she saw Hanmyo giving her a rather cold and judgmental look.

"What?" Katelyn asked, only to realize, to her growing horror, that she had inadvertently said something she shouldn't have.

"How did you know the races of the players who died?" Hanmyo demanded, her voice low. "They weren't said in the news reports, from what I heard."

 _Crap, crap,_ _ **crap**_ _, this wasn't supposed to happen!_ Katelyn thought, her face a mask of neutral even though she was internally freaking out.

It wasn't hard for Hanmyo to put two and two together after Katelyn's slip-up, and her fingers slowly reached for her daggers.

"Wait, wait, I can explain..." Katelyn started, only to stop when she felt a rush of wind, and suddenly, Hanmyo was right in front of her, pressing one dagger to her chest and another to her neck.

"I don't think you can," Hanmyo growled. Kemi and Mata began to advance threateningly on Katelyn. "Your little slip-up says everything."

"W-what slip-up? What are you talking about?" Katelyn gasped, trying not to make any sudden moves that would get her throat slashed.

"Don't you _dare_ try and play the innocent bystander card after what you just said," Hanmyo snarled. "What did you have to gain from killing them? What did they ever do to _you_?!"

"They had it coming," Katelyn proclaimed, now completely serious.

"What? What the _hell_ does _that_ mean?!" Hanmyo challenged.

"They tried to hurt Nick," Katelyn shot back, reaching up to move the daggers away from her vulnerable areas and then shove Hanmyo back. "That's something I _cannot_ forgive."

"Wait, what are you on about _now_?" Hanmyo demanded.

"That stupid Undine tried to steal something that Nick worked so hard to get," Katelyn explained, drawing both of her swords. If she had to fight Hanmyo, she would. "And that idiot of a Gnome had the _balls_ to insult Nick about his appearance. I got rid of them so they can't _ever_ do it again. Yuuki won't do it, she's too nice to kill someone. So, if she won't take care of them, I figured it's up to me."

"But why do you feel you need to _kill_ them?!" Hanmyo exclaimed. "That's _way_ too disproportionate! Just because they did something that's _typical_ for games like this doesn't mean you have to resort to cold-blooded _murder_! What exactly is _wrong_ with you?!"

"Nick's happiness is my utmost priority," Katelyn growled, aiming her swords for Hanmyo. "I'll _deal_ with _anyone_ who threatens that happiness."

"Oh, is _that_ so?" Hanmyo shot back, not at all convinced. "It sounds like you _actually_ want Nick all to yourself. I've seen your type before, and it makes me _sick_. I know there's no lengths you wouldn't go for your 'senpai'. I swear, you'd probably actually try to do the same to Yuuki if you really wanted..."

Hanmyo trailed off, having just realized something. "You... you _didn't_."

Hanmyo gripped her daggers tightly, ready to rush in and slash Katelyn to ribbons.

"I couldn't go through with it!" Katelyn exclaimed, causing Hanmyo to stop in her tracks.

"I _wanted_ to," Katelyn admitted. "Believe me, I _wanted_ to _so badly_. But... I stopped just short because... I realized that... if I kill Yuuki, Nick will be sad. And I don't want Nick to _ever_ be sad. His happiness is my happiness."

Katelyn sheathed her swords, ready to accept her end at Hanmyo's blades.

"You are the _strangest_ yandere _ever_ ," Hanmyo sighed. "You kill two random guys with no remorse just because of some petty insults, but when you have a perfect opportunity to kill your beloved's _girlfriend_ just so you can have him to yourself, you get cold feet. You wanna explain that before I cut you into ribbons?!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!"

Hanmyo took a few steps back, not expecting Katelyn to actually start crying.

"You're lucky that I don't just tell Nick and Yuuki about you," Hanmyo proclaimed. "You'd better watch your back, because if I hear you tried anything _else_... or, god forbid, you try to go after Yuuki again..."

Hanmyo aimed her right dagger at Katelyn's face to punctuate her point. "... _nothing_ will save you from me."

Hanmyo sheathed her daggers and rushed back to the dunes with Kemi and Mata following close behind, leaving Katelyn to cry all by her lonesome.

For all the time that Katelyn cried, only one thought ran repeatedly through her head.

 _What's wrong with me?_

She wasn't sure if she would ever know.

 _To be continued..._

* * *

On the next episode...

Nick: Oh, man, the raid team found the labyrinth already?

Yuuki: Yeah, it's barely been over a week since the floor opened, and they found it.

Hanmyo: Well, to be fair, it's probably going to be _another_ week before they find the boss room.

Katelyn: I'm guessing they're glad they already found it. Remember how long it took to find floor thirty's labyrinth?

Nick: Oh, don't even get me _started_ on that one.

Yuuki: So, any theories on what we're going to see in this one, you guys?

Nick: As long as it's not...

Katelyn: ...another dragon, right?

Nick: I HATE DRAGONS!

Yuuki: Oh, Nick, you're so silly.

Hanmyo: Um... Nick? There's something I need to tell you about Katelyn.

Nick: Um, what about Katelyn, now? Next time on _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:_ , "Through the Curtains"!

Nick, Yuuki, Katelyn, and Hanmyo: This may be a game, but it's not something you play!


	4. Through the Curtains

Katelyn honestly had no clue how long she'd spent at that spot in the Field of Dunes after Hanmyo had called her out, threatening to slice her to ribbons if she ever went after anyone else.

She'd stopped crying a few hours ago, but she was still conflicted.

 _Why can't I get these voices out of my head?_ Katelyn thought. _Why?!_

Katelyn stared at her reflection in one of her swords.

"I'm in this deep, aren't I?" Katelyn sighed. "I'm too far gone to back down now."

Steeling her resolve, Katelyn finally stood up, drawing her other sword and moving back into the dunes, slashing at scorpions and other monsters as they tried to accost her.

 _If I'm going to keep doing this, I'll have to do it in secret,_ Katelyn thought. _Nick and Yuuki can't_ _ **ever**_ _know that I was the one who killed those two players because they tried to hurt him. I don't even want to imagine what he would think of me..._

Pushing those traitorous thoughts out of her head, Katelyn jumped back when a much larger scorpion burrowed its way up from the sands, most likely a mini-boss of sorts.

 _No, they can never know,_ Katelyn thought as the Emperor Scorpion rushed her with its gigantic pincers. _I'm not putting them through that._

Katelyn charged in to the fray, slashing wildly at the Emperor Scorpion's body. _I wish I could just end this madness right here, but... I'm too far gone to be saved, after all. Nick would tell me that's nonsense, but he doesn't suffer from these jarring voices that tell me to do these despicable things._

After dodging another poison-tipped stinger attack, Katelyn decided she'd had enough, and rushed in to finish the fight with Full Lunar Eclipse.

 _And here I thought ALO would_ _ **stop**_ _these voices,_ Katelyn thought. _So much for_ _ **that**_ _plan._

Once the final blow had been struck, Katelyn sheathed her swords and dashed full-tilt for Jerado, not even sparing the exploding Emperor Scorpion a second thought.

 _It's too late for me._

* * *

(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)

 **The Blue Time Ranger** is proud to present...  
 _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:  
_ **Story Created:** January 24th, 2018  
 **Story Rated:** T for Teen

 **Story Summary:** What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?

 **On Today's Episode:** Nick and Yuuki are excited to check out the coliseum in Dahngrest, added in a recent game update, that allows players of all skill levels to test their might against other players for a chance to win fabulous prizes in tournament-style battles. However, it seems that events are about to come to a boil over Katelyn's motives, Hanmyo's promise, and Nick and Yuuki's continued ignorance of Katelyn's actions as of late. Who will still be standing if and when the dust finally settles?

 **And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I _did_ own Sword Art Online, which I _don't_ , why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

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Episode 4: Through the Curtains

"Wooooooow, that was _delicious_ ," Yuuki sighed happily once she and Nick had left the restaurant, Dahngrest's own Fortune's Market. "I'm definitely going to have to thank Silica for the recommendation next time I see her, because that was some of _the_ most delicious food I've ever tasted, virtual or not!"

"No kidding," Nick admitted. "Makes me glad that cooking is actually still a skill in this game, because that meal _rocked_."

"I almost wish I could have shown Asuna this place," Yuuki stated. "With her maxed cooking skill, she'd make a _killing_ here!"

"I would have killed those _prices_ , though, because holy _crap_ , I was not expecting it to be _that_ expensive," Nick proclaimed.

"I didn't think you had so much Yuld," Yuuki stated. "Was it because of all the power-leveling we did before the floor thirty raid?"

"That and a couple extra quests," Nick answered. "I wanted to make _double-triple_ sure I had enough for this place. After all, you deserve the best, Yuuki."

"Awww, you are such a flatterer, Nick," Yuuki giggled.

"Hey, just speaking the honest truth," Nick replied.

"Well, don't _ever_ think I don't appreciate it," Yuuki proclaimed, leaning over to kiss Nick. "I love you, Nick."

"I love you, too, Yuuki. I'm glad you liked it," Nick answered.

"Did you two have fun?" Hanmyo asked, having just turned the nearby corner as Nick and Yuuki had left Fortune's Market behind.

"Oh, it was _glorious_!" Yuuki exclaimed. "You really have to check it out sometime, Hanmyo!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Hanmyo stated.

"Hey, where's Katelyn?" Nick wondered. Katelyn had left with Hanmyo to do some power-leveling in the Field of Dunes.

"She had to log out for the night," Hanmyo responded instantly, hoping that Nick wouldn't catch the odd inflection in her voice.

From what Katelyn had said, she had been one of Nick's first friends as children, only for them to be separated when they were about four.

For a friendship like that to still be strong despite everything...

Hanmyo, despite her earlier threats to Katelyn, honestly hoped she would never have to divulge Katelyn's secret to Nick and Yuuki. At the same time, though, Hanmyo had promised herself that she'd monitor Katelyn closely over the next few days and make sure she didn't try anything funny.

If she was being honest with herself, Hanmyo was conflicted.

After all, Katelyn had killed two random players over them just being not nice to Nick, seemingly with no remorse, but when she tried to do the same to Yuuki, she'd gotten cold feet and couldn't do it.

Hanmyo had seen far too many anime to know what a yandere could do when pushed far enough, but at the same time, it seemed like Katelyn still had a conscience.

The one sentence that had stuck out in her mind was "what's wrong with me?".

 _Does she know what she's doing is wrong?_ Hanmyo thought. _If she does, maybe she thinks she's too far gone or something like that. ...ugh, let's not think about it for now. All these different lines of thought are giving me a headache._

"Is there anything else you two want to do for tonight?" Hanmyo asked.

"Hmmmm... I heard there's something they actually added to Dahngrest in the recent game update," Nick quipped. "Do you girls wanna check it out?"

"Sure, I'm game," Hanmyo answered.

"I'm up for anything!" Yuuki laughed.

And so, the trio began to search around Dahngrest for whatever had been added to the game, unaware that Katelyn was once again trailing them from the shadows.

It wasn't long before they found it. After all, how hard was it to miss a gigantic coliseum that looked like it had jumped straight out of the ancient Roman Empire?

"Holy _crapbaskets_ , that place is _enormous!_ " Nick exclaimed.

"No kidding," Hanmyo replied, dually impressed. "I wasn't expecting an _arena_ , of all places."

"Come on, let's check it out!" Yuuki giggled.

 _Ooh, a coliseum?_ Katelyn thought. _Wasn't expecting that. Let's see if someone wants to challenge me, huh?_

Nick, Yuuki, and Hanmyo walked through the large wooden doors, through a long tunnel, and finally came out inside the coliseum's main arena, where, as expected, many players were dueling each other.

"Looks like fun," Yuuki giggled. "I wonder if they'll be hosting tournaments sometime soon? I'm itching to test my mettle again!"

"Yeah, you haven't taken any challengers in a while, huh?" Hanmyo noted.

"To be fair, that particular challenge _was_ to find someone who could help us against the floor twenty-seven boss," Yuuki admitted.

Nick stopped in his tracks when he noticed that Katelyn was off on the opposite edge of the arena, dueling a rather aerodynamic Sylph woman.

Nick couldn't help but admire Katelyn's dual-bladed fighting style. Whereas Kirito in dual-wield mode tended to, as Yuuki liked to joke, "hit it until it dies", Katelyn actually fought gracefully, only swinging when she felt like she had to.

Katelyn was a firm believer in no wasted energy when it came to her fighting style. Nick had seen that as early as his first duel with her all those weeks ago.

"Wow, look at Katelyn go!" Yuuki proclaimed, watching the duel in awe. "She's really strutting her stuff!"

Hanmyo smiled as well, still keeping a close eye on Katelyn's movements and ready to pounce if anything seemed out of line.

"You're pretty skilled for your age, you know," the Sylph laughed, attempting an uppercut with her rapier that Katelyn easily dodged.

"Well, you can improve _incredibly_ quickly when you're trying to impress someone," Katelyn giggled.

As the Sylph leaped into the air to divebomb Katelyn, the dual-wielding Spriggan crossed both of her swords in front of her in a defensive stance, ready to parry and strike back.

But, just as the Sylph charged for Katelyn, she froze in the middle of her dash, an oddly pained expression on her face, before her avatar exploded into shards of light and angled polygons.

"Wait, _again_?!" Yuuki exclaimed.

"What's going on here?" Nick quipped. "That's the third time! Is there _really_ a wacko on the loose?"

Katelyn took a few steps back, wondering why the Sylph had exploded. _Hold on here, I wasn't going to go after her! What_ _ **is**_ _this?!_ Katelyn thought.

Hanmyo, however, had seen enough. She quickly drew her daggers and charged for Katelyn, much to Nick and Yuuki's confusion.

"H-Hey, Hanmyo, what's the deal?" Nick stammered.

Katelyn turned around to see if anyone else had seen what had just happened, only to have to dodge away from Hanmyo's daggers as they sliced through the air, just barely missing her neck.

"H-Hanmyo, what was that for?!" Katelyn exclaimed.

"What did I _tell_ you, you little bitch?!" Hanmyo growled, gripping her daggers tightly. "I _told_ you, didn't I? I freaking _told_ you that if you _dared_ to slaughter someone like that again, I'd tear you to ribbons!"

"Hanmyo, seriously, if I _ever_ did that, how exactly would I do something like that _while I'm still in the game?!_ " Katelyn shot back, trying to save face since she knew Nick and Yuuki were watching. And she was telling the truth on this one, after all. She hadn't had _any_ plans to off that Sylph girl. She was only going after people who tried to hurt Nick, and she could only "take care" of her victims back in reality, after all.

"Don't feed me your lies!" Hanmyo exclaimed. "I warned you. I freakin' _warned_ you, but you just _refuse_ to listen, apparently! Kemi! Mata! Let's end this!"

Kemi and Mata responded by roaring loudly as Hanmyo charged towards Katelyn, slashing horizontally, vertically, diagonally left, diagonally right, slanted upwards, slanted downwards, and overhead with her daggers before leaping back to where Kemi and Mata were standing. Once their roars were completed, four elemental daggers exploded to life around Hanmyo.

"Now you _die_!" Hanmyo challenged as she leapt back into the fray, slashing her daggers like crazy. While she did this, the four elemental daggers began flying around Katelyn and attacking on their own. This combination made it look like Hanmyo had become a furious maelstrom of blades and slashes with how fast she was striking with her twin daggers.

Finally, Hanmyo performed an uppercut slash to send Katelyn into the air, followed by her leaping backwards and Kemi and Mata rushing under her to catch her. When Hanmyo landed on Kemi and Mata's backs, she used the momentum to propel herself high into the air, even as Kemi and Mata jumped after her.

Hanmyo prepared her daggers, joining them together to form a great dagger of light in her hands as she shot down towards Katelyn's prone form with Kemi and Mata beside her.

"This... is the final strike!" Hanmyo exclaimed as she drove the dagger of light downwards, straight into Katelyn's body and sending her sprawling with the final explosion.

"Hanmyo, stop it! What's gotten into you?!" Katelyn gasped, picking herself up and balancing on her left sword.

"Just stand still so I can slit your throat, you damn devil!" Hanmyo shouted, dashing in to deliver the finishing blow only to be driven back by a barrage of Ethereal Blades from Yuuki.

" _Knock it off,"_ Yuuki growled. _"Both of you."_

"Seriously, what the _hell_ got into you two?!" Nick exclaimed. "Shouldn't you be more concerned with the fact that _another_ player apparently just _died_?!"

Hanmyo just scoffed. "You wanna know the truth? Your little Spriggan friend here is responsible for all three of the killings."

"W-what?" Nick gasped. "Don't be silly, Hanmyo. Katelyn would never do something like that."

"Then why else was she in your hospital room when you woke up the other day?!" Hanmyo growled. "Answer me that."

"Well, maybe she just found out where I was hospitalized, since she knows Nick always comes to visit," Yuuki stated. "Seriously, Hanmyo, do you really think Katelyn would _dare_ try to _murder_ people?"

Hanmyo just sighed. Looks like she was going to have to present the hard evidence.

"Okay, then. Nick, Yuuki, here's the truth..."

"HANMYO, YOU _BITCH_!" Katelyn screamed, re-drawing her swords and slashing them both across Hanmyo's chest, dropping her health by a large chunk. "You promised you wouldn't say anything! I _told_ you, I don't want Nick to hate me for what I've done!"

"Well, then you should have thought your stupid yandere mindset through a little better before you decided to blatantly ignore my advice!" Hanmyo shot right back.

"Seriously, if I could only do it while I'm not in the game, how the blazes do you think I'd be able to do it while I'm _in the middle of fighting someone?!_ " Katelyn countered, tears beginning to fall from her eyes.

"You could have an accomplice for all I know!" Hanmyo growled, dodging away from Katelyn as she attempted another attack.

"Okay, here's an idea, then!" Katelyn exclaimed, lashing out and slicing into Hanmyo's shoulder. With each word she emphasized, Katelyn sliced at another part of Hanmyo's body. "How about _you_ try living your life with these constant _voices in your head_ mumbling to you to do despicable things, and no matter _what_ you try, no matter _what_ you do, you can _never_ make the voices go away, you can _never_ ignore them, and just have to sit there and _let them drive you goddamn crazy!_ "

Katelyn moved in to chop downwards with both swords, severing both of Hanmyo's arms.

"How _dare_ you act like you know what's going through my head?!" Katelyn shrieked, her tears falling freely now. "How _dare_ you assume what I'm feeling?! _HOW DARE YOU JUDGE ME FOR SOMETHING I CAN'T CONTROL?!_ "

Katelyn had finally reached her limit, dashing in to finish off Hanmyo's remaining health with a Full Lunar Eclipse.

"You have no right to judge me," Katelyn growled.

"But... what would _they_ think?" Hanmyo gasped before her avatar exploded into shards of light, leaving only a purple Remain Light.

Katelyn's anger quickly shifted to fear as she slowly turned around. Sure enough, both Nick and Yuuki were staring at Katelyn with expressions of confusion and shock on their faces.

And seeing that look on Nick's face... Katelyn realized she was about to start crying all over again.

"K-Katie?" Nick asked, causing Katelyn to flinch. He hadn't called her _that_ in twelve years. "Is what she said true?"

Realizing there was no way out now, Katelyn sighed heavily before explaining herself, not bothering to look Nick in the eye. She didn't want to imagine his expression.

"Recently... ever since I found out you were playing ALfheim Online..." Katelyn explained. "I've had these... let's call them 'voices', swimming in my mind. I don't know where they came from or why they're assaulting me _now_... but... they tell me to do these... _despicable_ things to anyone who tries to hurt you or take you from me. The truth is, Nick... I'm in love with you. These voices are trying to make me get rid of anyone who gets too close to you for any reason. And... if I'm being honest, I may as well confess to this one, too. I... I _was_ in Yuuki's hospital room the other day."

Nick and Yuuki just listened to Katelyn's confession, still not sure what to make of anything. Nick instinctively reached out to hold Yuuki's hand, and she reacted without thought, squeezing her boyfriend's hand gently.

"I was going to short-circuit Yuuki's Medicuboid... that's how I killed those other two players, by fiddling with the Amusphere's battery enough to short-circuit it..." Katelyn stated. "But... I couldn't go through with it. I thought I had beaten the voices for once... but they kept assailing my brain, _demanding_ that I put an end to you. But, I eventually realized that... if I killed you, Yuuki, then Nick would be sad. And... despite the voices and their demands... that is the one thing I promised myself I would _never_ do to you, Nick, no matter what."

Katelyn chanced a glance up at Nick, expecting him to be angry.

He was still confused as all get out, but his expression hadn't really changed.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," Katelyn admitted. "This is _exactly_ what I feared was going to happen."

Katelyn looked back down at the ground of the arena, then back at Nick, who was looking at Yuuki. They appeared to be having a silent conversation of sorts, but about what, Katelyn wasn't sure.

After a few more seconds, Katelyn couldn't hold it in any longer and just started crying loudly, her tortured wails catching the attention of everyone in the arena.

Nick took a step forward, hoping he could say something to calm Katelyn down, but she simply threw herself into Nick's arms and continued to cry.

"There's no way you could forgive me, Nick," Katelyn sobbed. "I was stupid to think you could ever love someone like me."

"Katelyn, what are you _talking about_?" Nick wondered.

"When I asked you 'what do you call love in your reality', I guess I was asking myself more than anything," Katelyn sighed. "I guess I _don't_ know what love is, after all."

Katelyn released Nick and took a few steps away from him. "I guess... I'll leave you be now, Nick. Sorry for everything. Like I said, I can't expect you to forgive me, but I understand."

Before Nick could get a word in edgewise, Katelyn opened her menu and logged out, the last thing Nick and Yuuki saw was Katelyn's tear-streaked face, silently begging for a forgiveness she believed she didn't deserve.

The arena was silent for a time, as everyone there was still trying to digest everything that had just occurred.

After a minute, Nick and Yuuki looked back at each other, nodding in assent before opening their own menus to log out.

They both had silently agreed that they needed to find Katelyn before she did something to hurt herself.

Back in the real world, Nick was the first to lift his Amusphere off of his head.

"Yuuki, if Kurahashi asks where I am..."

"Stow it. I'm coming with you, Nick," Yuuki proclaimed.

"A-are you sure, Yuuki?" Nick asked.

"Katie needs us right now," Yuuki answered, firm in her conviction. "And we need to find her before something happens."

"Right," Nick replied. "I've got an extra pair of shoes in my bag. You might need them."

Yuuki nodded, hopping out of her bed to do so.

Once they were both ready, Nick and Yuuki reached out to hold hands as they rushed towards the exit to go search for Katelyn.

"Y-Yuuki, what are you doing out of..." Kurahashi gasped as Nick and Yuuki nearly bowled him over.

"Sorry, doc, but it's an emergency," Yuuki responded. "Someone needs our help."

"We can handle it," Nick continued. "I'll look after Yuuki. That's a _promise_."

Deciding that they couldn't afford to waste any time, Nick and Yuuki made their way to the elevators, Nick reaching into his pocket to pull out his cell phone.

"Mom?" Nick asked. "We might need your help. Katie just ran off somewhere, and I'm _really_ worried about her mindset at the moment."

" _Where are you?"_ Rhea answered instantly upon hearing the distress in her son's voice.

"Yuuki and I just left the hospital," Nick answered.

" _I'll be right over,"_ Rhea responded. _"We'll look for Katie together."_

"Roger that," Nick replied.

Nick and his parents didn't live too far from the hospital, but those four minutes felt like an eternity to Nick. Despite everything Katelyn had admitted to, Nick still wanted to find her and help her before...

Nick shook his head, not wanting to go down _that_ line of thought.

Nick breathed a sigh of relief he hadn't known he'd been holding when his mother's car pulled up so he and Yuuki could get in and go search the city for Katelyn.

"So you're the girl Nick fell in love with, huh?" Rhea teased, hoping to keep tensions low.

"Nice to meet ya, Kelly-san!" Yuuki giggled. "I really wish it was under better circumstances, though..."

"Let's get moving," Nick proclaimed. "I don't want Katie to be alone any more than she already has."

And so, the three of them drove around the city, through many of the familiar landmarks, just hoping that Katelyn was somewhere they could find her easily. Nick at least knew that Katelyn lived somewhere in this city, as she had mentioned it being a short walk to the hospital from her own house. However, they had struck out at most of the locations they knew around the city, even Katelyn's own house. Her mother was currently at work, which Nick considered a blessing in disguise, as he didn't want to drag her into this mess.

"I really hope she's okay..." Nick sighed.

Yuuki leaned over and rested her head on Nick's shoulder, knowing he was under a lot of stress at the moment. She figured the least she could do was be a good girlfriend and help her boyfriend out.

"Thanks, Yuuki," Nick sighed, draping his arm around Yuuki's shoulders.

"Anytime, Nick," Yuuki replied, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

"Is that her?" Rhea asked, and Nick just now noticed that they'd driven back by his own house on their way to the local park. And sure enough, Katelyn was standing there, gazing distantly at the Kelly house.

Nick wasted no time in practically leaping out of the car once it had stopped, with Yuuki right behind him. Nick moved slowly, not wanting to do or say anything that might set Katelyn off.

Nick glanced at Yuuki, who just nodded to him, before moving a few steps closer.

"Katie?" Nick asked.

"Why did you come after me?" Katelyn responded, her voice low and cracking, as if she was about to start crying again. "I told you, there's no way you can forgive me for what I've done, Nick. I'm not worth that forgiveness."

"Katie, listen to yourself," Nick stated. "Don't say you're not worth it. Everyone deserves a second chance. Wasn't it _you_ who taught me that?"

"Don't you _get it_ , Nick?!" Katelyn shouted, causing Nick and Yuuki to back away a step or two from fear of retaliation. "How can you _honestly_ say that, knowing what I did?! I thought playing ALO would be enough to _silence_ these accursed voices, but I _still_ couldn't resist them! I'm weak! How can you _possibly_ love someone as weak as me?! How can you even stand to be in the same _space_ as someone like me?!"

"I don't know who or what made you think that you're weak, Katie, but _you're not_ ," Yuuki continued. "Not everyone can conquer everything on their own. That's why we want to help you."

" _Help?_ Yuuki, I tried to _kill_ you," Katelyn proclaimed. "On what planet do I _deserve_ help?!"

"Are you even listening to us, Katie?" Nick asked, moving closer, only to hear a strange whisper coming from somewhere nearby.

He didn't have any time to investigate, as Nick suddenly felt a flash of steel against his neck as Katelyn leaped to her feet and pulled a knife on him.

" _Don't_ come any closer," Katelyn warned.

"Katie, get that knife _away_ from my boyfriend. _Now_ ," Yuuki proclaimed.

"I don't know _what_ I have to do to get it into your heads," Katelyn growled. "I don't _deserve_ forgiveness. _Please_ don't make me do something we'll all regret..."

"Katie, seriously, if you don't get that knife away from Nick, I'm _really_ gonna drop the hammer," Yuuki warned. "You _don't_ want to make me angry."

Despite the knife at his neck, Nick looked around his surroundings, trying to find where that strange whisper had come from. _It was only_ _ **after**_ _that whisper that Katie tried to knife me,_ Nick thought. _Whoever that was probably has something to do with this._

"Last chance, Katie," Yuuki proclaimed, shifting into a fighting stance.

"All right, whoever's out there, you might as well show yourself," Nick announced. "I'm not in any mood for your games."

In response to Nick's proclamation, a figure stepped out from the nearby shadows. He was a tall, kind of lanky figure, not much older than Nick was, with slicked-back black hair and dark brown eyes.

"Okay, pardon the cliché entrance, but who the heck are _you_?!" Yuuki exclaimed.

"Oh, names of are no importance to you right now," the figure laughed. "But, for the sake of convenience, you may call me Phantom."

"All right, mister unoriginal name, I'm only going to ask you this once," Nick growled. "Was that you I heard earlier? Are _you_ the one putting these diabolical voices in Katie's head?!"

"Precisely," Phantom laughed. "Isn't it wonderful what a few hypnotic suggestions can do to a person?"

"You monster! What's your sick little game?!" Rhea challenged.

"I won't spend too much time going on a monologue about my plans, since that is _far_ too cliché for its own good," Phantom explained. "All you need to know is that this is good old-fashioned revenge for what Sword Art Online and other games of its ilk did to me. I found an exploit in the Amusphere so that if I short-circuit the battery, it'll overload and fry the person's brain along with it. Did the general public even _care_ about what Sword Art Online was capable of?! It killed over _four thousand people_ and they just sweep it under the rug?!"

"So what the heck does Katie have to do with your sick plans?!" Yuuki shouted. "And you're just adding _more_ casualties to that list! Do you even _listen_ to yourself?!"

"I don't expect you to understand my plans," Phantom laughed. "Regardless, despite how skilled I am in the game, I figured I'd have someone _else_ commit the deed for me. The perfect crime deserves a perfect accomplice, after all."

Phantom was so wrapped up in his twisted proclamations that he didn't expect Nick to practically waltz up to him and throw a right hook into his face. Yuuki followed this up with a jumping scissor kick that sent Phantom sprawling to the ground.

"That's what I think of your perfect crime, _asshole_ ," Nick growled.

"It's already begun," Phantom laughed. "You can't stop me now. Even without my precious Katelyn, I can still move ahead with my plan. Just try and stop me, fools!"

As Phantom tried to pick himself up, Nick lashed out with a sweep kick that knocked him right back to the concrete.

"Get those dumb hypnotic suggestions out of Katie's mind _right now_ ," Nick growled. "I know you can. Otherwise, you're gonna regret it, and _don't think I won't do it._ "

Despite struggling against Nick's grip, Phantom still knew he was in no position to refuse, and snapped his fingers while mumbling a strange word Nick didn't quite understand. Katelyn gasped in shock for a second before settling down.

Before Nick could say anything else, though, Phantom picked himself up, then shoved Nick away and dashed back into the shadows, disappearing before Nick or Yuuki could make another move.

"H-Hey, get back here, you jerk! I'm not done kicking your teeth in yet!" Yuuki exclaimed, only to be stopped in her tracks by a _very_ loud sob from Katelyn, who had fallen to her knees after Phantom had vanished.

"O-Oh, _god_..." Katelyn gasped. "What have I done?!"

"Katie, calm down, _please_ ," Nick proclaimed.

Nick's heart just about stopped when he saw Katelyn flip the knife in her hands so that she was holding it in reverse grip, making it very obvious what she planned to do.

"I was right," Katelyn cried. "I _am_ weak. There's no way I can live with this, Nick. I know you'll be sad when I'm gone, but... just tell Hanmyo I'm sorry, okay?"

The instant Katelyn raised the knife, Nick was already on the move, begging his feet to carry him forward as fast as they possibly could.

"I'm so sorry, Nick..."

Katelyn brought the knife down...

...and Nick swung his hand with all the speed he could muster, slapping the knife out of Katelyn's hands just in time.

As the knife clattered to the ground a few feet away, Nick fell to his knees so he could embrace Katelyn with all of his strength.

"Katie, _you're not weak_ ," Nick proclaimed. " _Please_ don't call yourself weak."

"N-Nick..." Katelyn sobbed. "I couldn't stop myself from succumbing to those suggestions..."

"And he's going to _pay_ for that, I promise you," Nick replied. "But I don't want you thinking you're weak because Phantom's a psycho. I just found you, Katie. I don't want to lose you again. It hurts me when I lose _any_ of my friends..."

Katelyn looked up at Nick in surprise at that last, despite the tears that were still falling.

"F-Friend?" Katelyn repeated. "You still consider me your friend? Even after everything I've done?"

"Hey, now we know who's responsible," Yuuki answered. "We know who _made_ you do it, Katie. We _know_ you're not really a murderer."

Yuuki walked up so she could give Katelyn a hug as well. In spite of herself, Katelyn found herself accepting Nick and Yuuki's warmth, cuddling up to both of them.

Rhea couldn't help but smile at the exchange. It honestly looked like Nick and Katelyn hadn't changed at all, despite everything that had just occurred. _Nick's always been good at that,_ Rhea thought.

Katelyn started crying again, much to Nick and Yuuki's shock. However, this time around, they were tears of relief. Now she knew that Nick and Yuuki forgave her, knowing the true culprit in all of this madness.

"I'm... I'm so sorry, you guys," Katelyn cried. "I never meant to put you through all of this..."

"Like we said, Katie, it's not your fault," Yuuki replied. "We'll find that Phantom wingnut, and we'll kick his butt up and down the city for what he did to you, we promise you that."

"I'm... I'm just so happy that you actually found it in your hearts to forgive me..." Katelyn responded.

"Katie, you were one of my first friends, and that's never going to change," Nick stated. "Yuuki and I, we'll help you when you can't. That's kinda what we do."

Katelyn just continued to cry and hold Nick and Yuuki for dear life, inwardly relieved that the voices had vanished completely.

The three of them just stayed there, locked in their group hug, for a while, happy that everything was mostly settled.

"I imagine your doctor's probably worried about you, Yuuki," Rhea stated after a few minutes.

"Oh, man, you're right!" Yuuki gasped. "Doc's probably worried sick! I _did_ kinda rush out of there without telling him much..."

"I'm sure he'll understand that we just saved a life today, Yuuki," Nick replied. "I'll make sure he's not too hard on you when we get back."

"I think I need to apologize to Hanmyo, too," Katelyn realized. "I kinda let her have it before all of this happened..."

"We'll work on it when we get back to ALO," Nick answered. "Let's just get you back home first, okay, Katie?"

Surprising everyone present, Katelyn leaned forward and kissed Nick for a few seconds.

"I love you, Nick," Katelyn stated quite clearly. "But... I know you've already got Yuuki, so I've decided that I won't intrude on that. I just want you to be happy, Nick, even if it's not with me. Now that those voices aren't compelling me to do these bad things anymore, I wanted to say it while I still had a chance."

Nick just smiled and, after an approving glance from Yuuki, kissed Katelyn on the cheek in response. "I'm just glad to have one of my best friends back."

Katelyn hugged Nick, just letting her tears fall freely even as the entire four-person group made their way back to Rhea's car so she could drive them all back to where they had to be.

On the way back, Nick couldn't help but mentally comment on the fact that Yuuki was resting her head on his left shoulder and Katelyn was happily clinging to his right arm.

 _This is_ _ **definitely**_ _a situation I never thought I'd find myself in,_ Nick thought. _Even though Katie explicitly stated she wouldn't butt in on me and Yuuki... eh, what can you do? Katie's always been affectionate around people she loves. Might as well enjoy it while it lasts, right?_

Nick looked out of his side window, towards the setting sun that was beginning to disappear over the horizon.

 _Gotta appreciate moments like this, right? Because you never know when we might lose them,_ Nick thought.

Looking back at his friends, Nick was surprised to see that Katelyn had fallen asleep. _Must be because of everything that's happened today,_ Nick thought.

He knew that she'd probably wake up once she was back home. After all, they still needed to clear the air with Hanmyo.

 _Back in ALO, somewhere in Dahngrest..._

Sure enough, once Nick and Yuuki had found themselves back in Dahngrest, they both noticed they had a missed message from Hanmyo.

 _Waiting for you at the Sleeping Knights HQ. They're very accommodating. I hope you two are all right. ~ Hanmyo_

"Well, let's go see what's up," Nick quipped.

"Hey, wait!" Katelyn exclaimed, having just appeared from the teleport gate. "You guys _are_ taking me along, right?"

"We promised, right?" Yuuki stated. "Let's go straighten things out."

With that, the trio made their way through Dahngrest towards the building that now officially served as the Sleeping Knights' headquarters for the foreseeable future. A lot of players had set up their own abodes here as well, due to how large of a city Dahngrest was, many people even comparing it to Selmburg, floor sixty-one of Aincrad.

"Hey, guys, glad you could make it!" Nori exclaimed. "Our guest was waiting for a while for you."

"We heard some things happened," Siune stated.

"Honestly, it's a long story," Yuuki giggled.

Nick quickly picked up on Hanmyo's expression when she saw Katelyn standing right behind them, and quickly made a move to pacify Hanmyo before she started attacking again.

"Hanmyo, we've got a lot of things to explain, so _please_ don't go cutting Katie down again, all right?" Nick proclaimed.

"After what she did?!" Hanmyo growled.

"It wasn't my fault," Katelyn admitted. "Someone was compelling me to do it."

"We found the person responsible for planting those voices into Katie's mind," Nick proclaimed, surprising Hanmyo into silence.

"Wait, so you weren't pulling my leg, Katelyn?" Hanmyo asked.

"No," Katelyn answered. "We actually ran into the culprit when Nick and Yuuki came to find me."

"It was actually this guy about my age with slicked-back hair, like he was a yakuza or something. Honestly, he's some delusional wingnut who calls himself 'Phantom'," Nick explained. "He admitted to planting hypnotic suggestions into Katie's mind as some sort of revenge scheme against Sword Art Online and other VR games of its kind. I don't have a single damn clue why he tried to use Katie for his schemes, but it was probably convenience over anything else."

"Basically, Phantom was using Katie to short-circuit players' Amuspheres and kill them in both worlds," Yuuki continued. "He admitted he's not really the fighter type like us. But, in the end, we kicked his butt and made him get the voices out of Katie's head. Sadly, he chickened out before we could stomp on him anymore, but I have a feeling it's not the last we're gonna see of him."

"I seriously didn't mean to hurt you, Hanmyo," Katelyn admitted. "I just wanted the voices to stop, and I was growing really frustrated with the fact that I couldn't stop them. But, the voices are gone now! Nick made Phantom stop putting things in my mind!"

"Seriously? I didn't think inception was still a thing in this day and age," Hanmyo noted.

"I know it's probably going to take a lot for you to trust me again, Hanmyo," Katelyn admitted. "There are times when I didn't even trust _myself_..."

To Katelyn's honest shock, Hanmyo simply stood up, walked over to Katelyn, and flicked her on the forehead.

"O-ow! What was _that_ for?" Katelyn gasped.

"There. Now we're even," Hanmyo laughed. "I know you probably think you don't deserve my trust after... _that_ little episode, but now that I know who was really behind it, I'm willing to bury the hatchet and... well, try again. So, what do you say?"

Katelyn giggled lightly before extending a hand to Hanmyo. "I'm Katelyn. My friends call me Katie."

Hanmyo smiled, taking Katelyn's hand and shaking it. "I'm Hanmyo. Nice to meet you."

"Thank you for trusting me," Katelyn stated.

"Thank _you_ for showing me that there _is_ still good in you," Hanmyo responded. "I honestly had no clue you were being inception'd by some numbnut with yakuza hair."

Now that Hanmyo thought about it, the description Nick had given reminded Hanmyo of someone, but she couldn't quite place it. Who did she know that had used that name?

Just outside the headquarters, staring at the building from his perch, the avatar of Phantom, a rather muscular Gnome that clearly contrasted his real-world appearance, could be seen observing Katelyn and Hanmyo's reconciliation.

"Oh, fools, this game's merely begun," Phantom laughed to himself. "Even if I can't use her, I can still hypnotize someone else to do my bidding. They can't stop me anyway. My skill is unparalleled, after all. And this wretched virtual world will pay the price for what it took from me."

Phantom slipped back into the shadows, ready to continue his plans.

 _To be continued..._

* * *

On the next episode...

Yuuki: Well, brave viewers, next time, we're headed to the Jerado labyrinth!

Nick: Let's hope we don't get surprised on this one. We missed the last raid meeting because of all the drama.

Hanmyo: Wow, I think we're going even _deeper_ underground now. This looks _nothing_ like that pyramid dungeon.

Katelyn: Agh, would someone get these stupid locusts to leave me alone?! I can't stand them biting me over and over!

Nick: Wait, _locusts_? Of all the bugs they decided to use, why locusts?!

Hanmyo: Well, Jerado _is_ based on ancient Egypt, so a lot of enemies and obstacles here seem to be based on the Plagues of Egypt.

Yuuki: Oof, that's gonna be freaky if and when we get to the later ones.

Katelyn: I'm not looking forward to some of the later ones. That's just _sick_.

Nick: Just hold your nose and we shouldn't have a problem. I hope... Next time on _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:_ , "Lost in the Labyrinth"!

Nick, Yuuki, Katelyn, and Hanmyo: This may be a game, but it's not something you play!


	5. Lost in the Labyrinth

_Floor thirty-one, Pyramid of the Elders, five days later..._

"Heads up!" Nick shouted as another Dark Gazer flew down from the sky, bearing down on where Katelyn and Hanmyo were working on getting the door open.

"Oh, no you don't!" Yuuki shouted, charging towards the Dark Gazer (making _sure_ to avoid its poison-tipped claws this time) and lashing out with her newest sword skill, Drop Dash, where she performed a leaping overhead slash followed by a dashing thrust attack with her sword. This didn't completely drain its health, but it did force the Dark Gazer to turn its attention to her so Katelyn and Hanmyo could finally decode the hieroglyphics on the door and get it to open up.

"Open says me!" Katelyn giggled.

"Nick, this thing just _refuses_ to die!" Yuuki growled, swinging at the Dark Gazer who was now actively trying to avoid Yuuki's slashes.

"Allow me," Hanmyo replied, using a Quick Throw to launch a few energy daggers at the Dark Gazer to stun it and allow her to move in for the kill.

Before the Dark Gazer could break out of its stun, Hanmyo launched herself for it and began to ravage it with her own new sword skill, Spiral Claw, an extremely swift spinning attack with her daggers that finished off the Dark Gazer just as the door opened fully.

"All in who's going in," Hanmyo quipped as the quartet made their way through the doorway into the boss room.

The torches on the outer ring of the arena all lit up at once to reveal the boss in question, a large and imposing four-legged dragon with water-blue scales and four particles of water energy revolving around it. Its information window named it _Solus, the Wave Dragon_.

Yuuki glanced at Katelyn and Hanmyo without saying a word. Katelyn wisely backed away, though Hanmyo was confused, as she didn't know of Nick's recent hatred of dragon bosses.

"Um, is everything okay?" Hanmyo asked.

"Oh, THAT'S FREAKIN' _**IT**_!" Nick screamed, drawing the Element Saber, switching its element to wind and charging towards Solus.

"Does... he not like dragons?" Hanmyo wondered.

"Long story, honestly," Yuuki laughed.

"We'll tell you when he's done," Katelyn giggled.

* * *

(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)

 **The Blue Time Ranger** is proud to present...  
 _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:  
_ **Story Created:** January 24th, 2018  
 **Story Rated:** T for Teen

 **Story Summary:** What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?

 **On Today's Episode:** With Katelyn finally free from Phantom's hypnotic suggestions, things have finally returned to normal, and the group is ready to challenge the floor thirty-one labyrinth to move on to the next floor. Despite all this, though, Phantom is still out there, planning and scheming. What exactly does he intend to do to take his revenge on virtual reality games?

 **And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I _did_ own Sword Art Online, which I _don't_ , why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

* * *

Episode 5: Lost in the Labyrinth

"And that's basically it," Yuuki finished as Nick delivered the finishing blow to Solus by way of a jumping stab to its forehead, causing it to collapse before exploding into polygons.

"Honestly, dragons are cool," Hanmyo proclaimed, sheathing her daggers for the moment. "I don't think _that'd_ be enough to make me despise them with every fiber of my being."

"Normally, no. The problem we have here is that _dozens of players_ saw that shameful moment," Nick groaned as he walked back to the rest of the party. "I don't _ever_ want to be subjected to that kind of humiliation again. It was bad enough that I got wrecked by Fafnir, I didn't need everyone pointing and laughing at my screwups, too."

Nick sighed dramatically as he sheathed the Element Saber. "That's the kind of humiliation that sticks with you for a _long time_. I don't hate _dragons_ , necessarily, I just don't want to keep being reminded of that _infuriating_ ass-kicking I was subjected to..."

"Hey, at least you're getting better at dealing with dragons," Yuuki giggled. "You would have practically soloed that thing if Hanmyo hadn't provided cover support."

"I'm surprised you didn't pop in, Yuuki," Katelyn wondered.

"Eh, I didn't want to get in Nick's way," Yuuki replied. "I figured I'd let him unload all that stress. Sounds like he needed it."

"By the way, are we going to the raid party meeting?" Katelyn asked. "Apparently they found Jerado's labyrinth the other day."

"Sounds like it's time to party," Nick quipped. "Let's get back to Dahngrest and tell the Sleeping Knights about it. They sounded like they were really psyched for this one, after all."

With nothing left to do in the pyramid, the four-person party made their way back through the maze of tunnels and back out into the Field of Dunes.

"Thank _goodness_ that stupid sandstorm cleared up," Yuuki quipped. "I was getting sick of having to fight those stupid sandworm monsters every _five steps_ just because I couldn't _see_ them!"

"At least we seem to have the pattern down," Hanmyo admitted, Kemi and Mata both charging her up with an offensive and defensive buff, considering you never knew what kinds of monsters could pop up here in the dunes.

"We should probably get back to Dahngrest before Nori organizes a search party to find us again," Nick quipped. "I would rather that _not_ happen again."

"Good idea!" Yuuki giggled.

So, the quartet raced back to Jerado to use the local teleport gate.

"Teleport: Dahngrest!" the quartet proclaimed.

 _Two hours later, entrance to the Jerado Labyrinth..._

"It sounds like everyone's psyched up for this dungeon trip," Nick quipped once the raid team had arrived at the entrance to the floor thirty-one labyrinth. The door was decorated with a lot of strange hieroglyphics, much like many doors in the Pyramid of the Elders.

"Apparently, considering Kirito wanted to join this raid before Sinonon dragged him off," Asuna Yuuki giggled. She had decided to join the Sleeping Knights for this day of the labyrinth raid, especially after Yuuki had told her about all the craziness of the past couple weeks, what with Katelyn and Phantom.

Asuna had been especially interested in meeting Nick, considering Yuuki always had nothing but good things to say about him.

"Um... Nick, was it?" Asuna asked.

"What's up, Asuna?" Nick wondered.

Asuna smiled to put Nick's mind at ease. "Please, take good care of Yuuki, okay? She means a lot to us."

"That's what I promised, right?" Nick replied. "Honestly, when Yuuki said she wanted you to meet me, I think I was actually the one who wanted to meet you. There were times that Yuuki wouldn't stop talking about how awesome you were."

"Well, she honestly taught me a very important lesson," Asuna admitted. "Yuuki was the one that made me realize that, sometimes, the only way to get your point across is to use force."

"Nick taught _me_ something, too," Yuuki replied, casually twirling her sword as the raid leader continued to talk. Honestly, it was the same spiel every time they entered a labyrinth. "I used to think that, hey, if it's my time, it's my time, so I'll just keep going so I can go out with no regrets. But..."

Yuuki smiled radiantly as she turned around and hugged Nick tightly. "Ever since the doctors said my virus was getting weaker and easier to treat, I realized that I may just have a chance after all. When Nick and I became friends, I think his own philosophy was one of the things he passed on to me that really stuck, the idea that you should live for today and sweat the small stuff later."

"It's something my dad taught me," Nick admitted. "Gotta live for today, because you never know if you'll see tomorrow, especially in this day and age. I think the word he used was 'nankurunaisa', basically 'everything will work out'."

Nick's explanations were interrupted by the sound of the pyramid doors opening rather loudly and the raid leader bellowing to the other players that it was time to enter the labyrinth.

"All right, looks like it's game time!" Nick proclaimed. "Let's do this thing."

"All in who's going in!" Katelyn giggled. Hanmyo just twirled her daggers, ready for some action.

No more words were needed as the raid party descended deep into the labyrinth, which, according to everyone's information windows, was called "The Grave of the Dragon".

Its appearance was quite similar to the Pyramid of the Elders, only with fancier and more elaborate hieroglyphics and strange crests shaped like jade dragons adorning just about everything.

"Fancy," Hanmyo chuckled.

"I'm keeping an eye on those dragon things," Nick quipped. "They've gotta mean _something_ , considering this is the Grave of the _Dragon_ we're in."

"Yeah, some of them look like they're in patterns," Yuuki replied. "We may need that for later."

After clearing the first floor of the labyrinth, the raid party decided to take a short break before continuing upwards, as many players were exhausted due to having to fight some relatively powerful monsters.

"Man, those monsters were pretty strong," a Leprechaun gasped as his Undine friend healed him. "I never thought a _lion_ could do something like _that_."

"Then try not to get on Kemi and Mata's bad sides," Hanmyo laughed. "You wouldn't want to see that."

"Trust me, I've been on the receiving end of their wrath a couple times," Katelyn noted. "It's honestly a long story."

"H-Hey, what's this?" a Spriggan gasped upon looking at the door that was supposed to lead to the next floor of the labyrinth. "The door to the next floor is sealed!"

"What?! How is that possible?!" the raid leader, a Salamander, exclaimed.

Nick stood up to check it out, as he too noticed something odd about the door itself, only to stop after a few steps when he noticed someone was standing nearby and staring at them.

"Um, can we help you?" Hanmyo asked.

The player in question was a rather muscular Gnome with neck-length brown hair and shiny black armor. He was carrying a rather elaborate-looking mace in his right hand.

"Yes, actually, I think you can," the Gnome replied.

Nick had been moving to open his menu, just to be sure of things, but his hand froze in mid-movement once the Gnome had spoken.

That voice sounded extremely familiar.

Nick decided to take a good look at the Gnome. Despite never having seen a Gnome that wasn't Agil, nothing about the Gnome's appearance was ringing any bells.

Until the Gnome smiled in a strange, but oddly wicked way.

Nick's fist clenched tightly as he finally pieced together who _that_ wicked smile most likely belonged to.

The way the Gnome's smile only widened at Nick's expression was all the confirmation Nick needed.

Nick's hand went to the handle of Element Saber, ready to unsheathe it at a moment's notice.

"Um, Nick? Is everything okay?" Asuna asked.

"You _son of a bitch_ ," Nick growled, staring down the Gnome. "You wanna explain to me just _what the hell_ you're doing in the game before I come over there and carve you up like a roast turkey?!"

Yuuki was confused for a second until she got a good look at the Gnome's information window, which marked his player name as "Phantom".

The name of the person who had planted the hypnotic suggestions into Katelyn's mind.

"Simple, really," Phantom proclaimed, hefting his mace proudly. "I have grand plans, after all. And this is just the beginning."

Asuna was the first to gasp in shock when Nick unsheathed his weapon with lightning speed and hefted it threateningly towards Phantom.

"Wrong answer, freak!" Nick shouted, switching Element Saber's affinity to fire and charging straight for Phantom.

Phantom swung his mace forward even as Nick struck, the two weapons clashing and creating a ripple from their impact. This didn't stop either of them, though, as they drew their weapons back and clashed again and again, neither giving any ground.

"Yuuki, what's going on?! Why is Nick fighting that Gnome?!" Asuna exclaimed over the chaos of the raid party team trying to retreat to a safe spot so as not to get caught in the crossfire.

"Long story short, that's Phantom, the jerk who hypnotized Katie to do his evil bidding," Yuuki stated, holding her hands out and waiting for the prime moment to cast her spell. "Nick wants to hurt him _really_ bad, and to be honest... so do I."

As Nick spun around to dodge an overhead swing from Phantom's mace, he struck out with a Drop Dash to push Phantom away, right into Yuuki's line of sight.

"There! Chew on _this_ , nutball!" Yuuki shouted, opening her palms and unleashing a barrage of Ethereal Blades to drive Phantom back.

"Fools," Phantom laughed. "Don't think you can stop me."

"Oh, is _that_ so?" Katelyn growled, drawing both of her swords and waltzing right up to Phantom. "You wanna try _me_?!"

"Oh, my precious accomplice," Phantom cackled. "You may not be under my thumb anymore, but you're still an integral part of my plan."

"Can it, freak show!" Katelyn shot right back before rushing Phantom.

Phantom was about to raise his shield to easily defend himself, but stumbled forward in pain. As he stumbled, it was revealed that Hanmyo had snuck behind him when he was preoccupied and attacked his unprotected backside with a Mirage Fang to leave him wide open.

"You keep your _stupid_ face _away from me_!" Katelyn shouted, beginning her attack by thrusting her swords forward together, then slashing them both outwards, then performing a backwards somersault and slashing inwards with both blades, creating an X shape similar to Mother's Rosario.

Katelyn then took her left sword and traced a half-circle to the left, then did the same with the right sword, creating a light circle around the X.

For the final blow, Katelyn rushed Phantom, slashing with both blades so forcefully that she shattered the image she'd created with her earlier sword strikes and cleaved two large lines through Phantom's avatar, finally ending up on the other side of Phantom with her swords down. That final slash sent Phantom reeling, though his health wasn't completely depleted.

"Now _beat it_ , and we _might_ just spare you," Katelyn growled.

"Oh, please, do you _honestly_ think you can stop me?" Phantom laughed. "I am all-powerful, after all."

"Then answer me this," Nick shot back, readying the Element Saber. "If you're really as strong as you claim to be, why do you need _pawns_ to do your dirty work in the real world?! I think you're forgetting an important lesson here, jackass."

"Oh? And what would _that_ be?" Phantom responded in a very smug tone.

"Just because you've got all kinds of strength in virtual reality _doesn't_ mean you have that same strength in the real world!" Yuuki shouted. That was precisely the lesson that Asuna had agonized over before meeting Yuuki. "Virtual strength doesn't always translate to real strength."

"And what would _you_ know about strength, you little wretch?" Phantom laughed.

Nick had heard enough. Switching Element Saber's affinity to earth, Nick charged in (actually beating Asuna to the punch; hearing Phantom insult Yuuki had filled Asuna with an anger she'd almost never felt, after all) and swung his weapon in an overhead motion, driving Phantom to his knees so Nick could switch his weapon's affinity to holy and ravage Phantom's avatar with Ars Arcanum.

With only a few health points left, Phantom simply gazed up at Nick, who was staring him down with murderous intent in his eyes.

"Well, well, Phantom, it seems you're pretty goddamn guilty of insulting my girlfriend. So, how do you plead, you son of a bitch?" Nick growled, aiming Element Saber for Phantom's neck.

"I vote for a stay of execution," Phantom proclaimed, the spiked bludgeon of his mace beginning to glow with an oppressive dark sheen.

"GET BACK!" Yuuki shouted.

Nick wisely decided to obey his girlfriend's warning, and dashed backwards just as Phantom swung his mace downwards and jammed its spikes into the ground. Dark ripples spread out from the impact point until it created an upheaval around Phantom, the rock and ground exploding around him and causing a dark shockwave to emanate outwards.

When the chaos of the attack cleared, Phantom was nowhere to be seen, having used the explosion and the shockwave to cover up his escape.

"Aw, nuts," Yuuki quipped, randomly kicking at a dune. "I really hoped we'd get to stomp him this time."

"So _that_ was the wacko that tried to use Katie to carry out his insane schemes?" Hanmyo wondered once the immediate area was calm again.

"I figured he was in the game somehow," Nick proclaimed as he sheathed Element Saber. "It's probably how he picks his targets."

"Hopefully that'll at least teach him to stay away from me if he doesn't want another stomping," Katelyn stated, spinning her swords before sheathing them. "I don't _ever_ want to suffer through that again."

"Ooh, just let me have another go at him!" Yuuki growled, a sound that, had it been in any other situation, Nick would have honestly found adorable, coming from someone like Yuuki. But Nick understood how serious she was, having been there with him to witness Phantom's insane machinations.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen you this mad, Yuuki," Asuna noted with a slight chuckle.

"I know my mother and Aiko always taught me to look for the good in everyone, but... but... ARGH! I've never actually _hated_ someone in my _life_!" Yuuki exclaimed. "After what he did to Katie, I seriously wanna stomp all over this creep!"

Nick walked up and kissed Yuuki on the cheek to get her to calm down, making her blush when she realized she'd been ranting. "S-Sorry... I've never actually gone on a rant like that before..."

"It's okay, Yuuki," Nick replied. "I feel the same way, after all. If we ever see Phantom around here, we're gonna find him and beat his ass into the ground. Right?"

"You know it!" Yuuki laughed.

"Make sure you save a slice for me, okay?" Katelyn giggled. "After what he did to me, it's damn personal."

"Hey, leave some for Kemi and Mata and me, got it?" Hanmyo proclaimed. Kemi and Mata grumbled in agreement. " _No one_ hurts my friends and lives to brag about it."

"Is... is everything okay?" the Salamander raid leader asked once everything had settled down.

"Yeah, we just had beef with that creep-o," Nick replied.

"Okay, then, now that you've had your beef, how are we supposed to move on?" an Undine asked. "The door ahead's sealed off, remember?"

Nick walked up to the door in question, having noticed something he hadn't before his scuffle with Phantom. On the door were four dials, each shaped like the jade dragon they'd seen so much of in the labyrinth.

"Hey, I think it's a puzzle!" Yuuki realized. "We've probably gotta solve it to move on with this place."

"And I'm also willing to guess that we have to match them up in specific ways," Nick stated as he began to pore over possible solutions to this puzzle. "Luckily, I've been keeping an eye on all the other dragons we've seen so far, so I think I can figure this one out."

Nick rotated each of the four dials until the first dragon pointed southwest, the second pointed straight north, the third pointed northeast, and the fourth pointed south.

A rumble shook the room, dislodging clouds of dust from the ceiling as the door slowly opened, revealing the stairway to the second floor.

"Way to go, Nick!" Katelyn laughed. "I knew you were smart at puzzles."

"After all the ones I played with you when we were little, I would think so," Nick quipped as the raid party proceeded up the stairway.

* * *

It took the raid party approximately five days to completely map out and clear all eight floors of the labyrinth. Most of the raid party had witnessed a funny moment when, on the seventh floor, Nick had seen a menacing shadow seemingly shaped like a dragon and rushed to attack it, only to unwittingly draw the attention of a rare sight in the floor labyrinths: a mini-boss.

Thankfully, the three-headed beast that attacked them wasn't actually a dragon and went down quite quickly with the assistance of Asuna and the Sleeping Knights, but Nick had not wanted a repeat of the "floor twenty-nine incident", as he called it.

At long last, the raid party had finished their journey through the Grave of the Dragon, and all that stood between them and floor thirty-two was the boss fight that waited just up ahead.

"All right, everyone, shall we get this boss battle underway?" the Salamander leader proclaimed, to a chorus of cheers from the rest of the raid party.

Yuuki did the honors of walking up to the boss gate and touching the hieroglyphics inscribed on it to open the gateway into the arena where the boss was waiting for them.

To most of the raid party's surprise, the boss was already in the arena waiting for them.

"Okay, that's new," Yuuki quipped.

"I don't think it's going to attack us until the gate closes, though," Asuna thought. "So we've probably got a few moments to make last minute preparations."

The raid party did just that, healing anyone who had been injured in recent scuffles with "those damned lions", as that one Spriggan had cursed.

Siune, Asuna, and Hanmyo (via Kemi and Mata, of course), provided offensive and defensive buffs to everyone they could, with a few other players providing them with items to quickly restore the mana they used for those spells.

Soon enough, the boss gateway closed, sealing the raid party inside the arena. The figure that had been hanging at the top of the arena slowly floated down out of the darkness to reveal itself as another pharaoh-like figure, mostly mummified but with some un-rotted skin showing. Its chest was adorned with a large golden scarab and its pharaoh mask was covered with some disgusting-looking black gunk that was seeping into the boss' four arms, each hand lined with razor-sharp nails. Swarms of what appeared to be locusts were circling its body in a spherical barrier formation.

"Ew, bugs," Yuuki groaned.

"Wait, _locusts_?" Nick wondered. "Of all the bugs he could use, why _locusts_?!"

The boss lifted its head and the eyes of its mask opened, revealing ruby-red eyes blazing with evil intent.

Three health bars appeared above the boss to every player, revealing its name.

 _Pharaoh Mentuhotepi, the Plaguemaster._

"All right, everyone, get ready," Yuuki proclaimed, the entire raid team on edge for the battle that was just about to begin.

" **BY THIS, YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM YOUR LORD, WRETCHED FAIRY CREATURES,"** Mentuhotepi bellowed before advancing on the raid team.

"Wait, that phrase," Hanmyo gasped. "Everyone, I figured it out! This boss is going to use the Plagues of Egypt against us! That's why it has a shield of locusts!"

"Kind of odd that it's going out of order, don't you think?" Katelyn quipped even as she rushed in to slash at the locust barrier, realizing that no one was going to get anywhere unless holes were made in Mentuhotepi's shield.

Mentuhotepi eventually flew away from Katelyn and summoned an intricate jeweled staff to its hands before slamming it into the ground, causing a blood-red shockwave to ripple out from the point of impact, passing through a few raid players before fizzling out.

Asuna was the first to notice that the players the shockwave had touched were suddenly acting sluggish, almost like...

"They've been poisoned!" Hanmyo exclaimed. "This is the first plague, water into blood! Kemi, Mata, go help them out while we deal with this!"

Kemi and Mata growled in agreement before dashing off to heal the poisoned players, Hanmyo readying her daggers as Yuuki blasted the locust barrier with Ethereal Blades, causing the locusts to temporarily retreat.

"This is our chance, everyone!" Nick exclaimed. "Let's pour on the damage before those bugs come back!"

Nick, Katelyn, Yuuki, and Hanmyo all rushed in to attack Mentuhotepi's vulnerable body as much as they could until the locusts came swarming back in to form a barrier around the boss again.

"Any progress?" Yuuki asked.

"Not much, but noticeable," Hanmyo answered. Mentuhotepi's first bar had only gone down about a fifth.

"Why do I have this feeling we're going to be here for a while?" Nick groaned.

"At least it seems like we get a break when the barrier goes down," Yuuki noted. "Pharaoh boy didn't do anything until the bugs came back."

"All right, let's see what else it's got under its mask," Katelyn proclaimed, crossing her swords together.

No sooner had Katelyn mentioned it than Mentuhotepi floated back down to the arena floor and aimed its staff for the raid party, unleashing what appeared to be a torrent of frog-like creatures.

"Oh, great, the second plague," Hanmyo groaned. "Have I mentioned how much I HATE FROGS?!"

Regardless, Hanmyo continued to slash like wildfire to eliminate the frogs as they tried to attack her. Thankfully, each one went down with only one hit, but there were hundreds of them, swarming all over the place and causing trouble for the raid team.

"All right, that's it!" Yuuki shouted, chanting magic words and letting runes surround her while Nick stood in front of her to protect her from the frogs.

Mentuhotepi continued to summon more swarms of frogs to harass the raid team even as Nori, Katelyn, and Asuna moved in to slash at the locust barrier.

"Okay, Nick, I've got a shot!" Yuuki exclaimed, and Nick wisely backed away even as a large group of the frogs started hopping their way towards her.

Yuuki just smiled, opening her palms wide and unleashing a large sphere of dark energy for the frog swarm. Upon reaching the frogs, the sphere expanded into what could only be described as a localized black hole that sucked all the nearby frogs into it, instantly destroying them upon contact with the black hole's event horizon. Even as more swarms approached, the black hole persisted for a good fifteen seconds, continuing to draw in the frogs and destroy them.

"Wow, that was _awesome_ , Yuuki!" Katelyn laughed.

"And that, my fellow players, is the might of Dimensional Abyss," Yuuki proclaimed.

Nick made one final slash to the locusts and they dispersed again, leaving Mentuhotepi open for attack.

"Let's not waste any time, Katie," Nick stated. "Go all out!"

"You got it, Nick!" Katelyn shouted.

Nick and Katelyn moved to the front and back of Mentuhotepi as they unleashed Ars Arcanum and Full Lunar Eclipse at the same time, making quite the dent in Mentuhotepi's first health bar.

Hanmyo slashed through one last frog and rushed at Mentuhotepi just as Nick and Katelyn finished up their own attacks.

"Kemi! Mata! Let's end this!" Hanmyo exclaimed.

Kemi and Mata responded by roaring loudly as Hanmyo charged towards Mentuhotepi, slashing horizontally, vertically, diagonally left, diagonally right, slanted upwards, slanted downwards, and overhead with her daggers before leaping back to where Kemi and Mata were standing. Once their roars were completed, four elemental daggers exploded to life around Hanmyo.

"Now you _die_!" Hanmyo challenged as she leapt back into the fray, slashing her daggers like crazy. While she did this, the four elemental daggers began flying around Mentuhotepi and attacking on their own. This combination made it look like Hanmyo had become a furious maelstrom of blades and slashes with how fast she was striking with her twin daggers.

Finally, Hanmyo performed an uppercut slash to send Mentuhotepi into the air, followed by her leaping backwards and Kemi and Mata rushing under her to catch her. When Hanmyo landed on Kemi and Mata's backs, she used the momentum to propel herself high into the air, even as Kemi and Mata jumped after her.

Hanmyo prepared her daggers, joining them together to form a great dagger of light in her hands as she shot down towards the prone form of Mentuhotepi with Kemi and Mata beside her.

"This... is the final strike!" Hanmyo exclaimed as she drove the dagger of light downwards, straight into Mentuhotepi's head, finally finishing off the first health bar.

"One down!" Katelyn proclaimed.

"All right, what's on the docket now?" Nick wondered.

Mentuhotepi raised its staff to the sky, channeling fire energy into its jewel, then snapped the staff downwards, causing fireballs to rain down from the sky alongside large chunks of ice.

"Okay, anyone see the irony in this?!" Talken shouted.

"It's the seventh plague, a thunderstorm of hail and fire!" Hanmyo exclaimed. "Everyone, take cover so the mages and tanks can take point! Sounds like we're gonna need them for this phase!"

The spellcasters proceeded to cast buff spells as needed so their front-line players could survive the barrage, while Yuuki blasted a collection of fire and ice meteors away with a barrage of Ethereal Blades so Nick could move in to slash away at the locust barrier.

Meanwhile, Nori, Talken, and Tecchi decided to flank Mentuhotepi and attack the barrier while Yuuki's mana recovered and Siune cast her own fire and ice spells to dissipate the meteors that were still raining down on them all.

Through all this, Mentuhotepi unleashed another poison shockwave, though most of the players were ready this time, moving away quickly to avoid being poisoned since the shockwave had limited range.

Through a combination of powerful magic spells, hacking away at the locust barrier, and liberal usage of Original Sword Skills, Mentuhotepi's second health bar finally depleted.

"Jeez, how long have we been at it?" Jun asked.

"Almost a half hour now," Nori quipped.

"Holy crap, we've spent _that_ long on this thing?!" Nick exclaimed even as he put himself on edge for Mentuhotepi's final phase. "This is turning into the Adephagos all over again..."

"Thankfully, though, it seems like this is the last phase," Yuuki quipped.

All of a sudden, the arena went nearly completely dark without any warning.

"W-what's going on?!" a Cait Sith exclaimed.

"Where'd all the light go?!" an Undine shouted.

"Everyone calm down!" Hanmyo proclaimed, hoping to keep everyone in line. "This is the ninth plague, the three days of darkness. Do we have any Imps in the raid team?"

"You're looking at one," Yuuki proclaimed proudly. "Well, kind of, since we... you know... can't see..."

"All right, Yuuki, it's up to you right now. See if you can find a way to turn the lights back on so we can finish this fight!" Hanmyo exclaimed. "We'll stay back and fix up anyone we can!"

"Roger that!" Yuuki responded, dashing forward to attack the locust barrier while using a Horizontal Square to cut down another swarm of frogs that were harassing her. "Sorry, frog boys, you'll have to do a _lot_ better than that."

Even as Mentuhotepi actually swung its staff to attack her, Yuuki simply blocked it and juked to the side to slash at the barrier again, temporarily dispersing the locusts.

 _Okay, now where could he possibly be dimming the lights from?_ Yuuki thought as she went on the offensive against Mentuhotepi's body, deciding to save Mother's Rosario for the last leg of the fight. Eventually, she noticed a black jewel on its mask that seemed to be drawing in the light from the arena.

Yuuki smiled, taking a few steps back. _That'll do just fine._

Taking her chance, Yuuki rushed forward and leaped, using her momentum to start running up Mentuhotepi's body like Katelyn had against the Adephagos, slashing at Mentuhotepi's body as she did so, before leaping again when she got close. This carried her to the mask and the offending jewel, which Yuuki easily shattered with a Sharp Nail, causing light to return to the room and allowing everyone to see again.

When Yuuki could see Mentuhotepi again, as the darkness had also been hiding its status window, she could now see that Mentuhotepi was down to about sixty percent of its last health bar.

"Hey, everyone, we've got this thing on the ropes! Let's pour it on!" Yuuki shouted.

Asuna nodded, dashing like lightning to strike Mentuhotepi's body with a Flashing Penetrator before the locust barrier came back to protect the boss.

The spellcasters immediately began flinging spells at the barrier while the tanks and damage-dealers dealt with the swarms of frogs and meteors that still bombarded the arena.

The exact moment the barrier went down again, Nick was immediately on the charge.

"Yuuki, I'm gonna hit it with Ars Arcanum, then you switch in and finish it off!" Nick shouted.

"That was the plan for sure!" Yuuki laughed as she readied herself.

Yuuki watched every swing of Nick's sword, waiting for her moment. Once Nick had finished Ars Arcanum, Yuuki leaped off of Nick's shoulders to get enough height to reach Mentuhotepi's mask before moving in for the kill.

Her sword glowing a bright purple, Yuuki readied her weapon and stabbed outwards five times, creating a horizontal line down Mentuhotepi's chest. Yuuki spun around and stabbed out five more times, creating another line going the opposite way, both lines forming a sort of X. Finally, Yuuki reared back and thrust her sword forward with a loud battle cry, driving the point of her blade straight into the center of the X she'd formed with her earlier sword stabs. Purple light exploded from the Mentuhotepi's wounds upon impact, draining the last health bar.

Mentuhotepi fell to its knees, its mask breaking apart as it did so. Yuuki was about to raise her fist in victory when she suddenly felt strange, almost as if death itself was surrounding her and coming to take her soul.

Yuuki glanced at her status window, noticing an unusual countdown by her health bar.

It seemed that Nick had figured it out first, though. "Oh, shit, it's casting some kind of doom spell on her!"

"This must be its last-ditch attack!" Hanmyo exclaimed. "It's the final plague, the death of the firstborn! Does anyone have something that can dispel status effects?!"

"Allow me," Siune replied, chanting her magic words. Yuuki was surrounded by a circle of angel's feathers, and when they dispersed, the countdown was gone and Yuuki felt better.

Mentuhotepi, its final effort spent, fell flat on its face, its staff clattering to the ground and breaking apart as Mentuhotepi exploded into glowing polygons.

"Yeah, suck on _that_ , Grim Reaper! You're _not_ taking me today!" Yuuki proclaimed, raising her sword in a victory pose.

"Ooh, _man_ , that was an intense one," Katelyn gasped, catching her breath now that the battle was finally over. "Is everyone doing okay?"

"We're all right! Surprisingly no casualties this time!" the Salamander leader proclaimed. Despite the fact that no one could actually die anymore, he still stated that, as he had been a sort of field commander for certain raids back in Sword Art Online, and it was just something that stuck with him.

"That's good," Hanmyo sighed. "Guess this one was kind of meant to be a breather after the nightmare that the Adephagos was."

"And I'm just glad it wasn't... well, I think you get the picture by now," Nick laughed.

"Hey, even if it was, I'm sure you would have toasted it easily!" Yuuki giggled, leaping over to hug Nick after equipping the Golden Scarab, a defense-boosting accessory she'd acquired from getting the Last Attack Bonus. "You're ready for those nutballs, aren't you?"

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Nick replied. "Now how about we follow the raid party to floor thirty-two before they leave us behind?"

"Ack, good idea!" Yuuki stuttered as she and Nick rejoined Katelyn and Hanmyo to follow the rest of the raid party to the teleport gate that led to the newly-opened floor thirty-two, not noticing Phantom watching from the shadows of a nearby pillar.

"This isn't the end, wretches," Phantom growled. "You think you've beaten me simply because you caught me off guard? Sorry, but that's not how the real world works. I simply got careless. Rest assured, that will _not_ be happening again. When next we meet, you _won't_ be so lucky."

With that, Phantom decided to slink off back the way he came.

* * *

"Holy crap, why is it so cold all of a sudden?!" Katelyn gasped as a blast of cold air buffeted her and the others. "It's almost like we went from sandstorm to blizzard!"

As the raid party came out of the tunnel that led from the teleport gate to the main capital of floor thirty-two, everyone saw the reason why.

"Oh," Katelyn quipped.

"Honestly, I think I saw it coming," Nick responded.

It turned out that Katelyn's thoughts were pretty much on the money. The capital of floor thirty-two, Blizzalia the Snow-Dusted Settlement, was a city that appeared to be blanketed by an eternal snowfall, almost resembling an Eskimo village of sorts. Many players noted similarities to the Western Mountain field dungeon that rested all the way on floor fifty-five.

"Wow, talk about contrast," Hanmyo quipped.

"I think that was the idea," Nick replied as the raid party set off to explore Blizzalia.

"I once again reiterate that IT'S REALLY FREAKIN' COLD HERE," Katelyn proclaimed. "Can we please find a shop so we can get clothes that can help us _not_ freeze to death?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea, since I have no idea _how_ cold it could get," Yuuki laughed. "Off to the shop we go!"

 _Later that night..._

"Well, that was quite an adventure," Nick quipped as he returned to reality, lifting his Amusphere off of his head.

"It was kinda funny seeing Katelyn complain so much about the weather," Yuuki admitted.

"To be fair, I know exactly how she feels," Nick replied. "There was this one time when I was younger, where I _literally_ had to _walk to school_ in what could only be described as a _whiteout_ of a blizzard! Yeah, _that_ was a _lot_ of fun..."

"Ouch," Yuuki laughed. "I'm just glad that I never had to deal with that."

As Nick returned his Amusphere to his backpack, he overheard some doctors just outside the room mention something about the star formations tonight.

"That's not fair," Nick groaned.

"What's not?" Yuuki asked.

" _They_ get to go stargazing!" Nick exclaimed.

It didn't take long at all for Yuuki to figure out why Nick was so upset. Nick had often said that he wanted to take Yuuki stargazing when she was doing better.

"Is everything okay, you two?" Kurahashi, Yuuki's doctor, asked once he'd entered the room.

"Oh, Nick's just sulking because he wanted to take me stargazing," Yuuki giggled.

"It's not fair," Nick groaned.

Kurahashi's eyes suddenly twinkled in response to that. _What's he up to?_ Nick thought.

"I don't know if I've ever told you two this, but the west roof is a _really_ excellent place to see the stars from the hospital," Kurahashi proclaimed. "You can head up there if you really want to do that."

"Really?! You mean that, doc?" Yuuki gasped.

"Have I ever told you how much of a superstar you can be sometimes, Kurahashi?" Nick quipped.

"I've been told that, yes," Kurahashi laughed.

With Kurahashi's permission given, Nick wasted no time in taking Yuuki to the west rooftop to watch the stars, beyond happy that he could finally fulfill a promise he had made to Yuuki.

"Hey, look, Nick, I can see a constellation up there! See? Look that way!" Yuuki exclaimed, pointing towards the sky and showing Nick where she'd seen a constellation. They weren't worried about time, after all, as Rhea was out of town over the weekend on a meeting for the technology company she worked at, and she had allowed Nick to stay with Yuuki until she returned home.

"I swear I just saw three of those bigger stars chasing that tiny blue one over there," Nick quipped. "Really reminded me of that one Kirby game."

"He's _everywhere_ nowadays, isn't he?" Yuuki laughed as she and Nick flopped down on their backs. After a short sigh, she gazed back at Nick, her eyes sparkling and, in Nick's eyes, making her look even more beautiful. "Hey, Nick?"

"Yeah?"

Yuuki smiled brightly, probably the happiest Nick had ever seen her.

"I love you."

Yuuki didn't give Nick a chance to respond, reaching out to take Nick's hands into her own.

"I know I've said it a lot since we hooked up, but I absolutely mean it every time I say it," Yuuki continued. "I honestly never thought I'd _want_ a boyfriend at first, considering... well, you probably know why."

Nick was about to say that he understood when Yuuki dropped a bombshell on him.

"...you stayed, you know."

Nick was surprised to see that Yuuki had started to cry. "Y-Yuuki, what's wrong?" Nick asked, worried he'd said something wrong...

...until he saw that despite her tears, Yuuki was still smiling brightly. "The friends I _used_ to have... despite everything they'd always said, they _left_ me when they found out I had AIDS. That's really one of the main reasons why, despite my upbeat and peppy strides, I was always afraid of letting anyone outside the Sleeping Knights get close to me. I was scared they would say all these friendship things, only to reject me when they found out about my condition. Some friends, huh?"

Nick stayed silent, not wanting to interrupt as Yuuki continued to pour her heart out to her boyfriend. "Asuna was the one who made me realize it's okay to let people in again, but I was still scared. I didn't know if Asuna was the one exception, after all. I was still worried that you would leave me, too, once you found out."

Despite all this, Yuuki's smile never wavered. "But you stayed. You always stuck by me no matter what happened. You've seen me at my best, and at my worst. And you never left."

"I promised you, right?" Nick replied. "And you know I don't break my promises."

"And I can't even _begin_ to describe how happy that makes me, Nick," Yuuki answered, her tears falling freely. "Despite everything, despite all my fears... you stayed. You actually stayed, Nick."

Yuuki let go of Nick's hands, only to reach out and touch his face.

"And I'm one hundred percent certain that's the reason I fell in love with you," Yuuki admitted. "...just saying 'I love you' doesn't even come _close_ to describing _how much_ I love you, Nick. I'm so grateful that you stayed. I know I'm saying it a lot, but I tend to do that."

Yuuki leaned over. "I love you, Nick. I love you _so much_."

Nick couldn't help but smile himself as he leaned over to meet Yuuki. "I love you, too, Yuuki. I always will."

And finally, the two teenagers kissed passionately underneath the twinkling stars.

When they finally separated due to needing to breathe, Yuuki gazed into Nick's eyes. "Nick? Will you... will you stay with me, always?"

Nick responded by kissing Yuuki on the forehead before entwining their hands again. "Always and forever, Yuuki."

No more words needed to be said, so Nick and Yuuki simply laid back and continued to watch the stars shine, their hands entwined the entire time.

 _A few days later..._

"Hey, Yuuki?" Nick asked once he'd arrived in Yuuki's room again.

"What's up?" Yuuki wondered.

"Do you have any other VRMMOs installed on your Medicuboid?" Nick stated.

"Oh, yeah, quite a few," Yuuki quipped, donning the headgear of the Medicuboid so she could browse through its list of installed games. "Any particular reason?"

"I was wondering if... just maybe... you'd like to explore a new game?" Nick asked.

"A new game? Cool!" Yuuki giggled. "What game did you have in mind? I've got quite a few choices on here, actually."

Nick glanced towards the three monitors to Yuuki's right, one of which was showing the list of VR games installed on the Medicuboid. Upon locating the one he'd wanted to get Yuuki to try, Nick couldn't hide his smile as he answered.

"How would you like to learn about a world of sci-fi and guns?"

 _To be continued..._

* * *

On the next episode...

Nick: We surprised you all, didn't we?

Yuuki: I know _I_ was _definitely_ surprised! In case you missed it, for the next couple episodes, Nick and I are (temporarily, of course) game-jumping to the world of Gun Gale Online!

Nick: I figured, even if it's a shooter, you're so skilled that you could easily master it.

Yuuki: Sounds like a lot of fun! ...hey, look, Hanmyo's here, too!

Nick: ...huh. Didn't think Hanmyo was the type to play shooter games.

Hanmyo: I could say the same to you two.

Yuuki: Wow, everything's so _different_ here.

Nick: Considering I'm kind of a sci-fi nut, too, this is heaven for my geek side. Yes, I have one. Next time on _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:_ , "Dancing on the Bullet Line"!

Nick, Yuuki, Katelyn, and Hanmyo: This may be a game, but it's not something you play!


	6. Dancing on the Bullet Line

"Whoa, this is trippy," Yuuki stated as she entered the startup screen for Gun Gale Online. Nick had surprised her by revealing that he actually played Gun Gale Online occasionally alongside his adventures in ALfheim Online, and admitting he wanted to play it with Yuuki now.

Thankfully, Yuuki had found out she could still create a new avatar for GGO after having declined to convert her ALO avatar. She didn't want to lose any of the memories she'd created, after all.

" _Welcome to Gun Gale Online!"_ the computerized voice resounded. _"Please customize your avatar now."_

Yuuki did so, moving her finger through different settings and sliders, trying to get as close as she possibly could to her ALO avatar. When she was satisfied with her customization, she selected the ACCEPT option from the menu, she felt herself being teleported to the main hub of GGO's "capital", as it were, the SBC (Space Battle Cruiser) Glocken.

As Yuuki relished in the futuristic sci-fi setting and how much it felt like the polar opposite of ALO, she swiped through the database function of her menu to read up on GGO's lore. Yuuki was surprised to find that the setting was basically a post-apocalyptic Earth that had been ravaged by a centuries-long war. The people of this future Earth had eventually fled the planet in giant spaceships, leaving the Earth behind until it could sustain life again. Every player in GGO, according to the lore, was part of the first generation born on Earth again since humanity's return.

The main capital of the game setting was the largest of the spaceships, the SBC Glocken she was currently standing in. From here, players would venture out into the vast wasteland to re-discover what had sprouted since the Great War.

"Ooh, man, this is going to be so much fun," Yuuki giggled, twirling the FN Five SeveN she'd been given as a starting weapon like an old wild west gunslinger would before holstering it and deciding to wait for Nick, as he had been playing GGO before and promised he would show her the ropes.

Still, she figured she'd explore SBC Glocken and see what it had to offer while she waited for Nick to arrive. No harm in checking things out, right?

Yuuki clapped her hands twice before setting out into the capital city, ready to explore a brand new virtual world.

* * *

(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)

 **The Blue Time Ranger** is proud to present...  
 _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:  
_ **Story Created:** January 24th, 2018  
 **Story Rated:** T for Teen

 **Story Summary:** What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?

 **On Today's Episode:** It's time for a new adventure. Nick and Yuuki have game-jumped to Gun Gale Online, the prospect of exploring a brand new virtual world filling the Absolute Sword with absolute glee. Alongside new friends and familiar faces from ALO, Nick and Yuuki will venture out into the wasteland of Gun Gale Online and find adventure, hunt for treasure, and fight strange monsters across the remnants of a war-torn Earth. What new and exciting adventures await our heroes in the world of guns?

 **Author's Note:** Since I'm not good at describing outfits, like, at all, for this three-episode arc, Yuuki's Gun Gale Online appearance is the exact same as her appearance in Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet (can you guess what inspired this arc?).

 **Theme Song Notes:** Since I can't post the opening and ending sequences anymore so I won't get my stuff axed, the opening theme for the next three episodes is "Thrill, Risk, Heartless" by LiSA (the opening theme to Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet), and the ending theme is still "Donna Hoshizora yori mo, Donna Omoide yori mo" by Aira Yuuki (the ending theme to Imouto sae Ireba Ii. [A Sister's All You Need]).

 **And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I _did_ own Sword Art Online, which I _don't_ , why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

* * *

Episode 6: Dancing on the Bullet Line

"There you are, Yuuki," Nick quipped once he'd logged in as well, noticing Yuuki exploring SBC Glocken. "Couldn't help yourself, could you?"

"This place is _amazing_ , Nick!" Yuuki giggled. "It's so _different_ from ALO!"

"Those were pretty much my thoughts when I first started playing," Nick admitted. "Well, now that we're both here, I think the first thing we should do is head down to the governor's office so we can get you registered."

"Wait, registered?" Yuuki asked. "Didn't I already do that?"

"I mean for other things," Nick clarified. "You're a new player to GGO, after all, so you can register yourself at the governor's office so you can take part in some of the bigger events that GGO has to offer."

"Does that mean I'd be able to take part in the BoB when I get better?" Yuuki wondered, as the BoB, or Bullet of Bullets Tournament, was the only major thing she knew about GGO besides the basics, due to Sinon occasionally mentioning it.

"That and lots more," Nick stated. "Come on, let's move our butts already."

"You got it!" Yuuki laughed.

Nick took a few steps forward, only to abruptly stop when he saw someone approaching him, a cowboy-esque player with a lime-green combat outfit and a comically oversized cowboy hat.

"What's with the wild west dude?" Yuuki wondered.

Nick simply sighed in frustration. _Jeez, this guy just doesn't know when to give up, does he?_

"Hey, man, it's been a while since you've been in GGO, hasn't it?" the cowboy player quipped.

"Well, Kevin, I _have_ been busy with both ALO and schoolwork," Nick quipped. "High school is never easy on a guy."

"Oh, tell me about it," Kevin proclaimed, reaching for something in his pocket. _Oh, here it comes,_ Nick thought.

"How about this for a new offer?" Kevin asked, bringing out a small device. "Would thirty million credits be okay? I can pay you whatever you want."

 _And there it is._ Despite wanting to laugh at Yuuki's shocked face, Nick fixed Kevin with a glare he'd given the wannabe cowboy many, _many_ times since that day, hoping he'd take the hint, but no dice, apparently.

"Kevin, I don't know how many times I have to brick this into your skull, but I'll say it as many times as I need to," Nick proclaimed, getting right up in Kevin's face to emphasize his point. _"Mira is not for sale, not now, not_ _ **ever**_ _."_

Kevin seemed disappointed at this response, putting the strange device back in his inventory. "Aw, man, I thought I had you this time," Kevin sighed. "Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me."

With that, Kevin made his way down the winding pathways towards a nearby shop.

"Um, okay, since I feel I need to ask," Yuuki quipped. "One, what was _that_ all about? And two, who or what is Mira?"

"First, Kevin's kind of a cowboy type, as you saw," Nick explained as they continued to walk to the governor's office. "He told me he's always been a sucker for wild west films and the cowboys they shill, so he decided to be sort of a cowboy here in GGO. How effective he is at it, I can only guess since I don't always see his exploits. And second, it's a good thing you reminded me of that."

Nick opened his menu, then prepared to send a voice message. "Mira, I just arrived with Yuuki. We're at the center bridge."

" _I'm on my way, master!"_ the voice on the other end responded.

Barely even three seconds later, loud running footsteps alerted Nick and Yuuki to someone approaching them rather swiftly. This new arrival was a girl about their age with shoulder-length, curly emerald green hair and piercing red eyes and clad in a silver-and-blue jumpsuit.

"I'm all ready to go, master! Where are we off to today?" the girl proclaimed, sounding very bubbly and happy.

"First, the governor's office so we can get my girlfriend registered as a new player," Nick replied. "But I think I should do some introductions before we head out."

Nick took Yuuki's hand and gently nudged her closer to the new girl. "Mira, this is my girlfriend, Yuuki Konno. Yuuki, this is my ArFA-sys, Mira."

"Nice to meet you, Yuuki!" Mira giggled.

"I guess I need to explain some other things too, Yuuki, since this _is_ your first time in GGO," Nick realized. "An ArFA-sys, short for Artificial Financial Adviser System, in the basest terms I can put it, is basically a new sort of AI partner system Zaskar added in the latest GGO update. They can fight alongside you and even manage your finances and inventory. It's pretty cool, huh?"

"She... called you 'master', right?" Yuuki wondered.

"Of course! Nick _is_ my master, since he's the one who found and activated me!" Mira laughed.

"There's actually three types of ArFA-sys, as far as I'm aware," Nick explained as the trio continued to walk to the governor's office. "There's Type-As, which are usually rentable by players, since I heard there's gonna be some quests down the line that you'll need an ArFA-sys in your party to start. Type-Bs are usually seen running some of the terminal stations in the hubs and providing information, so they're kind of like NPCs and quest-givers in that sense."

Nick reached out to pat Mira on the head, which she seemed to like very much. "But Mira here, she's a very rare Type-X. Type Xs have their own AI programs, so they can basically grow their own personalities and emotions over time."

"Master found me in a cluster of ruins while he was out exploring," Mira clarified. "Like he said, Type-Xs are extremely rare and superior to all the other models!"

"And do the rare ones come with unique hairstyles?" Yuuki asked. "Because I'm honestly digging the curly green hair."

"Actually, all Type-As and Type-Xs are completely customizable in their appearances," Nick explained. "It's pretty cool, honestly."

"Wow! Do you think I can find one, too?" Yuuki asked. "Because the ArFA-sys sound _really_ awesome!"

"Hey, you never know," Nick admitted. "I found Mira by chance. Maybe you might get lucky, too. People are calling me one of the luckiest players ever to have found a Type-X, but I know a few other players who have a Type-X, so I _know_ it's not just me. They said something about 'protagonist privileges', too. Honestly have no idea _what_ they're talking about..."

After getting Yuuki registered at the governor's office, Nick decided to take Yuuki to the gun shop, as he knew that the FN Five SeveN she had been given at the start wouldn't do much against the mutants that roamed the wasteland.

"Okay, continuing on with our tutorial, shall we say," Nick quipped, to which Yuuki giggled and kissed Nick on the cheek.

"Hey, I appreciate a tutorial with some class, huh?" Yuuki laughed.

"Good point," Nick stated. "There's actually two types of guns in GGO, optical and live-ammo. Optical guns use energy-based ammo and are usually used to hunt the mobs and the mutant creatures that roam out there. They're basically lighter and much longer range, but players' defensive equipment can disperse their damage, so they're not really effective in PvP."

Yuuki continued to scan the options available to her as Nick continued his explanation. "Live-ammo guns are basically modeled after real-life guns, unlike opticals which are all fantasy kinds of guns. Live-ammo guns are more suited for PvP battles since they can ignore most of the things that can counter opticals, such as passing through defense fields and doing more damage per hit, but you obviously have to carry extra magazines like you would a real gun, and they're all based on real-life guns."

"Hey, how about this one?" Yuuki proclaimed, gesturing to a SIG Sauer P239 she'd liked.

"Ah, good choice," Nick quipped, reaching out to claim that particular gun. "I figured I'd get you both an optical gun and a live-ammo gun, since you can usually swap between guns on the fly."

"Sounds convenient!" Yuuki stated. "Now, let's see what they've got for optical weapons."

After a few more minutes, with Mira making suggestions based on what her programming told her, Yuuki eventually selected her optical weapon: the Hard Light Bringer, a semi-auto machine gun that could charge its shots for even more power.

"All right, are we all set?" Nick asked once he'd paid for Yuuki's weapons and gave them to her before walking out of the gun store.

"Hey, I was wondering something," Yuuki asked.

"I know exactly what you're going to ask, and yes, they do have a Kagemitsu G4, but I sadly don't have enough credits for it right now," Nick stated, having predicted what Yuuki was going to ask. "Maybe sometime down the road."

"Eh, just figured I'd ask," Yuuki giggled. "Okay, then, shall we set off for adventure?"

"Right, then," Nick stated. "Let's journey out to the wasteland and see what we can find!"

That said, Nick, Yuuki, and Mira traveled back through SBC Glocken and towards the large gateway that would take them out into the wasteland of the ruined Earth.

After they'd left through the gate, a hooded figure stepped out of the nearby shadows, his hand going for the handle of his Sturmgewehr 44 before deciding to wait.

* * *

"Gotcha!" Yuuki shouted, spinning around to blast a mutant creature, a Shadow Stalker, in the face with a charge shot from Hard Light Bringer. She'd quickly learned that despite the semi-auto capabilities, she _couldn't_ rapid-fire the weapon's charge shots, meaning that if she had to use a charge shot, she'd need to pick her shots carefully.

"These things just do not want to stay down, do they?" Nick proclaimed, ducking under the swipe of another Shadow Stalker before unloading a few blasts into the monster's chest with his own optical weapon, the Sun Star, a semi-auto pistol that fired slow but powerful bursts of light energy.

"No kidding! And I actually thought those _things_ in ALO were worse! You know which ones I mean, right?" Yuuki quipped.

"I know _exactly_ what you mean, and _those_ creepoids can go suck an egg as far as I'm concerned," Nick proclaimed, blowing the head off of another Shadow Stalker with a perfect headshot.

"Well, that should do it," Yuuki stated once she'd finished off the last Shadow Stalker that had been hounding them. They had apparently popped up nearly without warning and viciously attacked the two of them, leading Nick and Yuuki to believe that they were guarding something.

Yuuki glanced to her right before seeing something she hadn't before while they were fighting the mutants. It appeared to be a metallic stairway that led down into some kind of laboratory.

"Maybe that's what they were trying to keep us away from," Yuuki noted.

"How about it, master? Shall we investigate?" Mira asked, hefting her Glock 37 pistol to retaliate against any possible surprise attacks.

"Yes, we shall," Nick quipped, only to freeze in his tracks when he heard the telltale click of a sniper rifle being cocked and readied. It was a sound he'd learned to be extremely wary of during his time in GGO, as snipers were starting to increase despite not being a very popular build before the third BoB.

Yuuki turned around and quickly noticed Nick's expression turn tense. "Nick, is everything okay?"

"GET DOWN!" Nick shouted, rushing forward to push Yuuki down to the ground and avoid the sniper shot that sailed over Yuuki's head just in time.

"Master, we've got a sniper up there!" Mira exclaimed, pointing her Glock towards the general direction the sniper shot had come from.

"All right, Yuuki, you should probably switch to live-ammo," Nick stated, switching to his main live-ammo weapon, a Beretta M9. "It's time to take down a sniper."

"You got it! Let's wreck this camper!" Yuuki exclaimed, switching over to her SIG Sauer P239. "I'll go that way to draw their fire so you and Mira can take 'em down!"

"Roger that," Nick replied as Yuuki dashed off.

The sniper in question quickly reloaded and aimed for the charging Yuuki, giving Nick and Mira the time they needed to ready their own weapons.

Yuuki saw the Bullet Prediction Line follow her as the sniper continued to aim for her. "Man, if only I could cut bullets like Kirito can," Yuuki quipped. "He _knows_ I'm more skilled, so I bet once I get a photon sword, I can do it, too. Just you wait!"

Deciding to ruminate on _that_ fun later, Yuuki spun around and fired a few shots from her Sauer, actually hitting the sniper in the shoulder.

"Yes! Take _that_!" Yuuki taunted.

The sniper shook her head before turning her weapon towards Nick.

"I don't think so!" Mira exclaimed, firing her Glock towards the sniper and forcing her to reposition herself. "Yeah, that's right! Don't you _dare_ hurt my master!"

As Nick continued to dodge the sniper's shots as best he could, Yuuki looked up and saw something peculiar.

Despite the fact that she couldn't really see the sniper's appearance due to the shadows of the cliff she was standing on, Yuuki _did_ notice that the sniper was standing very close to the edge of the cliff, most likely to get a better shot in.

A wicked idea forming in her mind, Yuuki gestured to Nick and Mira, hoping they'd understand. Thankfully, they got the message and split up to draw the sniper's attention away.

Switching back to the Hard Light Bringer, Yuuki began building up a powerful charge shot, hoping this would work.

Nick and Mira continued to fire shots at the sniper, a few of them hitting their mark and causing damage. Nick was the first to notice that the sniper's health was already down to about half.

"After only a few shots? Must mean our camper doesn't really prioritize defense, huh?" Nick quipped before diving away from another shot, only for another shot to almost instantly fly out and catch Nick in the shoulder, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Master!" Mira shouted, rushing to Nick's aid.

Satisfied that the sniper's attention was fully on Nick and Mira, Yuuki cracked a rather sinister smile as he let her shot continue to build up to its maximum level.

"Chew on _this_ , camper!" Yuuki exclaimed before unleashing her charge shot, represented as a small, comet-shaped burst of purple light that screamed through the air and struck not the sniper, but the face of the cliff just under the sniper.

The blast struck with so much force, due to Yuuki charging for so long, that it actually crumbled the part of the cliff it had struck, causing the sniper to lose her footing and fall to the ground below.

Nick and Mira saw their chance and rejoined Yuuki to dash towards the sniper before she could get back up.

"End of the line!" Nick shouted as he, Yuuki, and Mira all aimed their guns for the sniper...

...only to find that it was someone they knew. She had casually short, thin and pale blue swaying hair with a tuft tied up on both sides of her forehead, and indigo colored eyes.

Nick and Yuuki had seen her on certain quests in ALO, usually with Kirito and his party, sniping just about _everything_ with her bow with incredible accuracy. Nick instantly realized that this could only be one person.

"Sinon?" Nick gasped. "Did we really almost shoot you down?!"

"Well, you kinda caught me off guard with that last attack," Sinon admitted, picking herself up and retrieving her weapon, the ultra rare PGM Hecate II anti-material rifle. "I honestly didn't expect to get blasted off of the cliff by a charge shot. That's a new one to me, honestly."

"Hey, I just thought of something and decided to go with it!" Yuuki giggled.

"Oh, Yuuki, I almost didn't recognize you for a second," Sinon admitted. "You're playing GGO now, too?"

"Yep!" Yuuki stated. "Nick wanted to know if I wanted to give it a shot, so I figured, eh, why not?"

"Well, you adapt pretty quickly," Sinon replied. "That was a pretty out-of-the-box tactic."

"We were actually about to go into that underground laboratory and see what's down there," Nick explained. "Did you wanna join us, Sinon?"

Sinon thought for a few moments. She didn't really have anywhere else to be, since her squad was back in SBC Glocken preparing for tomorrow's bounty hunt.

"All right, I'm in," Sinon stated.

"Awesome! We've got a full party of four! Let's go check out that lab!" Yuuki proclaimed.

As the quartet descended down the ominous-looking stairway, the hooded figure could be seen watching from a far-away cliff, lowering his Sturmgewehr 44 for the moment.

* * *

"Hey, I see something up there!" Yuuki exclaimed. Nick checked the spot that Yuuki had gestured to and saw a large sliding door just up ahead, one resembling the cockpit doors of spaceships in pretty much every sci-fi movie ever created.

What Nick noticed about this particular door, however, was that there were four circular buttons around the door. These were mostly pressure-sensitive switches, as they'd seen a lot in this particular dungeon, used to open the way forward.

But the way these particular buttons were arranged gave Nick the impression that whoever wanted to proceed had to find a way to activate all four switches at the exact same time, otherwise they would reset in almost a split second.

"Okay, this might be a pickle," Nick quipped.

"Why don't we all just shoot the switches at the same time?" Yuuki replied. "The other switches were shootable, right?"

Nick practically facepalmed for not realizing the obvious solution. "Thanks for overcoming my own brain fart, Yuuki."

"No problem!" Yuuki giggled as she, Nick, Mira and Sinon aimed for the switches. "On my count, guys. Three... two... one... FIRE!"

Four shots rang out practically in sync, thundering through the sterile air of the laboratory and striking the four switches at the same time, unlocking the door and allowing it to slide open.

"Jackpot!" Yuuki proclaimed.

The quarter moved through the newly-opened access tunnel, only for another humanoid security robot, a DX-29 V, to leap out from the nearby wall and lunge for Nick.

"Back off!" Mira shouted, immediately placing herself in front of Nick before aiming her Glock for the robot's head and firing, scoring a perfect headshot and caving the robot's metallic skull in. It collapsed to the floor and lay perfectly still.

" _None_ of you are laying a _finger_ on my master!" Mira exclaimed, stepping forward to hug Nick tightly.

"Um... Mira? You _do_ know that Nick's _my_ boyfriend, right?" Yuuki asked.

"Of course! Master's told me so much about you, Yuuki, and I wouldn't _dare_ think of trying to take him away from you," Mira answered. "But master's been so good to me ever since he found me. I just can't help but feel happy whenever I can help him!"

"Is this a common thing with ArFA-sys units?" Sinon wondered. "I haven't really been keeping up with the updates as much."

"It's mostly with the Type-X ArFA-sys," Nick replied, patting Mira's head and causing her to smile happily. "Because they have incredibly advanced AI and emotion programming compared to Type-A and Type-B. Funny thing I've noticed since the update that introduced them, a lot of players prefer to use the female ArFA-sys, whether it's a Type-A or the lucky players who find a Type-X. I honestly have no clue why, though."

"Well, to be fair, most of GGO's players are guys," Sinon responded, something she'd definitely learned from experience. "That probably has something to do with it."

"Oddly, someone I met that has a Type-X says it's 'canon to the story'," Nick stated. "I _really_ have no idea what these people are talking about, honestly."

"Hey, the room ahead apparently has a _bunch_ of ammo crates!" Yuuki quipped.

"Then that's probably a safe room," Sinon explained. "There's usually a safe room in each dungeon or labyrinth that's meant to be a breather for the players, where they can restock on ammo and save their progress just in case."

"But usually, if there's a safe room in a dungeon, that usually means that the dungeon's boss room is just ahead," Nick continued. "So we'd better make the most of the moment before we go and face the boss."

And so, the four players went to town on the ammo crates to restock what they'd used during the trip through the dungeon and using the recovery terminal, which emitted a soothing green light that healed them all to full health.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Nick asked.

"As we'll ever be, master! Let's fight the boss!" Mira proclaimed, and Nick nodded to his comrades, walking up to the large and elaborate boss door and pressing the flashing green button to open it.

Upon stepping into the boss room, Nick clutched his Beretta tightly, his instincts honed by all his time in ALO to prepare him for whatever madness was about to erupt.

The room lit up like fourth of July fireworks in America (fitting since GGO had been developed in America), illuminating the boss room in a snap.

One last shadow dissipated to reveal the laboratory's boss, a spherical machine almost as large as the boss room itself. It had two major weapons, an eight-barreled machine gun and a boxy cannon that fired electric beams, each mounted on opposite poles of the boss's massive, ball-shaped body. Extending from the chassis were six extending arms that ended in long, sweeping blades.

"Ooh, _that_ doesn't look pleasant," Nick quipped.

The boss threw its six arms out and let out a hissing electronic screech as its health bar appeared to the group, revealing its name as the Sphero Doomer.

"Okay, weird name, but whatever! Let's go, everybody! Time to bounce this ball!" Yuuki exclaimed.

Deciding that they'd all laugh at the cheesiness of the line later, the four players all split off to assess what they could about the boss.

Yuuki was the first to notice what appeared to be the Sphero Doomer's weak point, a crystal on the bottom edge of its chassis.

Yuuki decided to see how the Hard Light Bringer worked against boss monsters, preparing a charge shot and firing it towards the crystal, only for the Sphero Doomer to swing one of its bladed arms, which Yuuki now noticed were lined with a glowing material, and sliced through the blast like Kirito would cut through bullets.

"Well, I guess _that_ didn't work," Yuuki groaned.

"We probably need to shoot those arms off if we're going to get anywhere with that weak spot," Nick quipped, firing off a few shots from his Beretta towards the crystal, only to actually hit it, since the bullets came out too fast for the Sphero Doomer to swing and deflect.

The Sphero Doomer screeched in what sounded like rage and aimed its electro-cannon straight for Nick. Sinon put a stop to that by firing off a shot from the Hecate that temporarily disabled the cannon.

"Okay, we might have a problem," Yuuki stated. "These blade arms are _really_ hampering our progress! Can we please commence with shooting them off?"

"You read my mind," Sinon replied, backing as far away as she could and entering what she liked to call "sniper vision", positioning her Hecate so she could aim for the joints of the Sphero Doomer's arms.

Just as one of the blades came slicing through the air, Sinon made her shot, striking the joint of the arm in question and snapping it off rather violently. The now-severed arm clattered to the ground and exploded into shards of light.

"Ooh, it didn't like that," Yuuki quipped when the Sphero Doomer screeched loudly and re-aimed its now repaired electro-cannon for Sinon.

"Yuuki, catch!" Sinon exclaimed as she picked up the Hecate and dove away from the ensuing electric blast, taking something off of her belt and tossing it to Yuuki. When she got a good look at it, she recognized it as a Kagemitsu G4 photon sword, like the one she'd mentioned wanting earlier.

"W-wait, is this...?" Yuuki gasped.

"It's Kirito's, but I highly doubt he's really going to use it anymore," Sino stated. "He left it with me when we wrapped up the Phantom Bullet case, and, well, considering he doesn't play GGO anymore as far as I know, he probably won't miss it."

" _Now_ we're talking," Yuuki cackled, activating the Kagemitsu and watching a purple laser blade extend from it. "And it's even in my color, too! SWEET!"

As the Sphero Doomer advanced, Yuuki rushed in, ducking and weaving through any errant blade swipes to slash her new Kagemitsu at the joints of the arms, extremely satisfied to see that she'd done enough damage to break another arm off of the Sphero Doomer. In response, the boss reared back and aimed its machine gun for Yuuki, the barrels beginning to spin.

Yuuki readied herself, remembering that Kirito had told her once that, considering her reflexes, she could probably do this as well as Kirito could if she ever jumped to GGO. _Just gotta wait for the right moment,_ Yuuki thought.

The instant that the Sphero Doomer began to fire on her, Yuuki swung the Kagemitsu to the rhythm of each shot, handily cutting them all down until the machine gun stopped.

"Awesome!" Yuuki giggled. "Gotta thank Kirito for the recommendation when we get back to ALO. In the meantime..."

Yuuki took advantage of the momentary distraction as the Sphero Doomer tried to reorient itself by dashing towards it and, after severing another arm, slashing at the crystal a few times, surprised to see those few slashes do as much damage as they did. The Sphero Doomer backed off, its HP in the red, only to run into a wall after just a few steps.

After all, the Sphero Doomer was almost as large as the room itself, which didn't give Nick and the girls much room to maneuver, but also worked against it so it couldn't really retreat anywhere.

"Yeah, you're in trouble now, ball-boy," Nick proclaimed, switching over to the Sun Star and firing a few blasts for the Sphero Doomer's weak point, even though one of the four remaining arm blades cut through it. Sinon solved this by aiming quickly and firing three shots from her Hecate that severed the remaining arms at the joint.

Mira slid to the right and fired a couple shots to disable the electro-cannon and give Yuuki some time to charge Hard Light Bringer once again.

"Open wide, metal muncher!" Yuuki shouted, unleashing her attack, the comet blast ripping through the air and striking the Sphero Doomer directly in its weak point, causing it to explode upon impact and light up the room.

When the light faded, Nick could see that most of the Sphero Doomer's armor had been destroyed and at least half of its internal systems had been disintegrated by that final shot.

The Sphero Doomer attempted one final shot from its machine gun, only to collapse to the floor in a heap of scrap metal and spare parts before the whole mess exploded into shards of light.

"And victory goes to us!" Yuuki proclaimed as their notification windows informed them of the EXP and credits they'd won from defeating the boss. "That was something else, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, a lot of the dungeon bosses in GGO are pretty nuts compared to ALO," Sinon admitted.

Before Sinon could elaborate, however, alarms began to blare all around them, causing everyone present to tense up.

"Wait, wait, is the place self-destructing?!" Yuuki exclaimed. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

"We'll fret later! Let's get out of here!" Nick proclaimed.

* * *

Once the quartet had successfully escaped the collapsing laboratory, the stairway leading to it began to glitch out.

"Um... is it supposed to do that?" Yuuki wondered.

"They're on a sort of 'respawn timer', so other players can check the dungeons out no matter how many players attempt the dungeon," Sinon explained.

"It usually takes about five to six hours for a cleared dungeon to reset itself, sometimes more or less depending on how large it is," Nick continued.

"Are there... well, 'labyrinths' in GGO?" Yuuki asked.

"Well, so far, the only type that I think matches that description are, according to the lore, the other giant space cruisers that humanity used to flee the earth, but only one has been found so far," Sinon stated. "There probably won't be any more until sometime in the future, after a significant game update."

"So, Yuuki? What do you think of Gun Gale Online?" Mira asked.

"It's pretty fun, honestly!" Yuuki quipped. "To be honest, I'm surprised my Medicuboid had GGO installed on it."

"Some people want to use VRMMOs for therapy purposes," Sinon stated. "I did that, trying out GGO in hopes I could overcome my fear of guns. I've made a lot of progress since then, but I have no clue if it'll all go away someday, if at all..."

"You'll get there someday, Sinon! You can beat it!" Yuuki giggled. "If I can beat AIDS someday, I _know_ you can overcome your fears. You just gotta believe!"

Sinon couldn't help but smile at that. Nick was right, she always knew just what to say. "Thanks, Yuuki."

"No problem!" Yuuki stated.

As the four players walked back to SBC Glocken, Yuuki and Mira were already chatting excitedly about their next adventure, while Nick and Sinon were discussing some lore details, since Nick was a self-admitted lore nut when it came to RPGs in general.

"You know, Nick, I'm surprised that you're playing a game like GGO," Sinon admitted. "Yuuki's told me that you're not really the best at shooter games."

"To be honest, before I started GGO, I was absolutely _horrible_ at them," Nick replied. "Even though I grew up in a time where shooter games were pretty much over-saturating the market, I was never really interested in them at first. I guess all of the nonsense that people threw at Call of Duty didn't help."

"Yeah, I was never interested in those," Sinon quipped. "I mean, seriously, _how_ many of them did they release until GGO?"

"Tell me about it!" Nick laughed, only stopping when he realized something. "Say, you mentioned to Yuuki that you used to have a gun phobia."

Sinon sighed, and Nick immediately thought he'd crossed a line.

"Oh, crap, Sinon, I'm sorry, sometimes my mouth acts faster than my brain and..."

"Can I ask you a question, Nick?"

"...what's up, Sinon?"

Sinon looked Nick straight in the eyes.

"What would you say if... if I told you that I once killed someone to protect my mother?"

 **("Startear" by Luna Haruna plays)**

Nick waited for Sinon to finish before adding his two cents.

"Everyone treated me like a murderer because of it, even my therapists," Sinon explained. "Even... even my _own mother..._ "

" _What?!_ " Nick exclaimed. "Are they _nuts_?!"

That particular line caught Sinon's attention.

"I mean, for god's sake, even if you shot a guy, that shouldn't change the fact that that you only did it to _save your mother's life_!" Nick exclaimed. "There are times when I _really_ question Japan's values..."

"W-wait... Nick, you're not from around here?" Sinon wondered.

"I was born and spent most of my life in America, but we moved to Japan about three years ago," Nick explained. "I know it sounds weird to a lot of a people, but the truth is, I'm actually glad that we did. Because if we hadn't..."

Nick glanced back at Yuuki, who was still chatting with Mira about other strange places they could explore out here in the wasteland. "...I never would have met Yuuki. She's a gem, to be honest."

"So... you _don't_ think I'm a murderer?" Sinon asked hopefully.

"You did what you had to do," Nick stated. "I'm sure we all have things that we wish could have gone better, or that we could have done something different. We just have to make the most of our choices and not let 'destiny' control us. You may have killed someone, Sinon, but you did it to _save_ a life. I'm not going to preach about 'right and wrong' when it comes down to that kind of conflict, but I believe that if I can save a life, then I'll do what I have to do, even if I have to kill someone who, in all fairness, probably deserved it."

Nick looked over at Sinon, who was staring at him in a mix of relief and awe. "I... didn't get _too_ preachy, did I, Sinon? I'm really sorry, it's a habit I picked up from my father, and..."

"No, no, it's okay," Sinon answered. "I'm... I'm just glad that you understand me."

"Something this world could use more of," Nick stated.

Sinon smiled and raised her fist. Nick got the message and tapped Sinon's fist with his own, officially cementing their partnership.

"Hey, Mira?"

"What is it, Yuuki?"

Yuuki would have gone through with her question if she hadn't noticed a Bullet Prediction Line aiming at all four of them, swaying to each side as if deciding who to shoot first.

"Hey, up ahead!" Sinon exclaimed.

Nick immediately went for his Beretta, only to stop when he noticed the figure slowly moving closer to them, aiming his weapon, a Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle, for them.

"Okay, dude, you're pretty ballsy for aiming an assault rifle in our faces like that," Nick quipped. "What, are you gonna tell me you're also a serial killer who wants to shoot up a school or something? Spare me your tired ideals."

"Oh, but that's the point," the figure in the hood proclaimed. "I _have_ to be 'ballsy', as you put it, to go up against you. Besides, didn't I already tell you that I have grand plans to fulfill?"

"Wait, plans? I don't think you even know us," Sinon proclaimed, slowly lifting the Hecate so she could blast this guy's digital head off if she had to.

Suddenly, Yuuki tensed up, her free hand going straight for her Kagemitsu. "Wait, that voice... oh, no, not _you_ again!"

It seemed that Nick realized it, too, because he immediately aimed his Beretta for the hooded figure's head even as the figure laughed and removed his hood to, sure enough, reveal the face of Phantom.

"You've got some nerve following us to a completely different game, asshole," Nick growled. "Just what the _hell_ are you doing here?!"

Phantom was about to answer, only for Yuuki to charge in faster than Phantom could react and slash at his torso with her beam saber.

"How about you just stuff it?!" Yuuki shouted. "I don't want to hear _another_ word of your lies!"

"Oh, but this is where the game gets fun, little girl!" Phantom proclaimed. "Round two won't be as easy as last time!"

"Oh, shut up!" Sinon exclaimed, raising her Hecate and firing off a shot that struck Phantom in the upper forehead.

Only problem?

The bullet, though borderline headshot, barely did any damage.

"Um, you wanna explain yourself, Phantom?" Nick proclaimed. "That should have knocked your health down to its limits!"

"Ah, but it's fun to experiment," Phantom proclaimed, not noticing that Nick had secretly activated a recording. "What wonders you can achieve by removing those pathetic limitations that an Amusphere forces on you."

"What are you blabbing about, jerk?" Sinon challenged.

"It's simple, really," Phantom cackled, raising his Sturmgewehr 44. "I simply added some special programs to my Amusphere to boost my own stats when I activate them."

"Hold on, wouldn't the Amusphere's safety protocols lock you out of the game if they detect any foreign programs that aren't supposed to belong there?!" Yuuki shouted.

"Not if those safety protocols are disabled," Phantom laughed.

"So you're basically a filthy hacker?!" Nick exclaimed. "Is there _seriously_ no lengths you won't go to get your pathetic revenge on virtual reality?!"

"Why shouldn't I?!" Phantom growled, putting all four players on edge. "You really have no clue what this cursed genre of game has done to me!"

 _Okay, we might finally start getting a motive here,_ Nick thought,ready to fight.

"I was one of the ten thousand people trapped in Sword Art Online that fateful day four years ago," Phantom explained, the memories flooding his mind like they were yesterday. "I had brought my older sister with me, since we were both game nuts and wanted to try this revolutionary piece of technology. However... cruel fate cast its wicked smile upon us. Two days, _two fucking days_ before SAO was officially cleared, my sister and I were in a dungeon, preparing for the next boss fight, only to be trapped in a room with monsters _far_ beyond our level. We fought for our lives, but only I was able to escape. My sister perished in that room and left me all alone in the world. My parents were already gone from this world, and I just accepted that I was next. I begged for death, an end to the madness, but to my dismay, SAO was cleared not long after, robbing me of my one chance to be with my sister in the next world."

Phantom started stomping the ground like a little kid throwing a temper tantrum. "My one chance, and fate decided to kick me in the groin like a sadistic torture artist! Is it any wonder to you that I hate virtual reality?!"

"How is that the _game's_ fault?!" Nick shot back, not at all convinced. "It sounds like _you_ were the one who dragged your sister into a place that was far out of your league and decided to take it out on the game itself when she died!"

"And I don't even know why you're blaming virtual reality in general!" Yuuki shouted. "What does the genre itself have to do with the _one specific thing_ that got your sister killed?!"

"Don't _any of you wretched losers_ get it yet?!" Phantom screamed. "Despite _everything_ , despite all of the people that _died_ , my precious sister among them, there hasn't been a _single_ attempt to regulate the use of virtual reality! Don't these sons of bitches know how dangerous it is?!"

"It's not virtual reality that's dangerous, asshole!" Nick exclaimed. "If you want to blame _anyone_ for _that_ , blame the psychos like Kayaba and Sugou who hijacked the games for their own sadistic purposes! Besides, virtual reality's been a thing _long_ before the NerveGear and Amusphere were even a thing, so don't act like the SAO Incident is a precedent for anything VR!"

"I figured you wouldn't understand anything," Phantom growled. "None of you know what it's like to lose someone precious to you!"

"My father, for one," Sinon shot right back. "He passed away when I was young. But he wouldn't want me to be sad for my whole life. He'd want me to move on with my life and make him proud, which is something _you_ obviously can't do."

"I lost all of my family," Yuuki continued. "To the same disease that I have. And, to be honest, I'm still not sure if it'll come back for me eventually, even with my better chances of a full recovery. But no matter what, I'm going to keep walking with my head held high and not let fate beat me. It really just sounds like you _succumbed_ to fate without even bothering to fight it."

"Shut up! SHUT UP, EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!" Phantom screamed, his arms flailing. "Ever since I returned to reality, I've cursed this abominable virtual world and everything that took my sister from me, and that's exactly why I've decided to take my revenge on it no matter what I have to do to accomplish that!"

Phantom suddenly convulsed in his spot before settling down and charging straight for Nick with a speed seemingly far beyond what the system would allow, even with a maxed AGI stat. Before Nick could get his gun up in response, Phantom thrust his foot forward and kicked Nick into the side of a nearby cliff.

Not content with just that, Phantom moved closer and pushed the barrel of his Sturmgewehr 44 straight into Nick's chest.

"They'll suffer," Phantom laughed. "They'll all suffer for what they did! THEY'LL ALL SUFFER IN HELL!"

Phantom pulled the trigger, blasting Nick's chest with just a few rounds from his assault rifle, but with his illegally-boosted stats, it was enough to completely deplete Nick's health.

Yuuki could only watch in absolute shock as Nick futilely reached for Phantom in hopes of doing some kind of damage, only for his avatar to then explode into glowing shards of light.

"M-Master!" Mira exclaimed. Though ArFA-sys units were tied to the player who was registered to them, she knew that because she was still in a party, she wouldn't be automatically sent back to SBC Glocken. Still, Mira steeled herself and aimed her Glock for Phantom.

"Who wants to be executed next?!" Phantom cackled, devolving into deranged laughter.

"You..." Yuuki growled.

Sinon could somehow sense Yuuki's rising anger, almost like a primal urging to move away lest Yuuki tear through her in the process.

The Sniper Queen wisely moved to the side, motioning for Mira to do the same.

"You're going to regret what you just did..." Yuuki proclaimed softly, before her head snapped upwards, her eyes opened and stared down Phantom with all the hatred she could muster, and she activated her Kagemitsu, the purple laser blade shining brightly in the light of dusk.

"...you hear me, you little _BASTARD_?!" Yuuki screamed, not giving Phantom time for a retort as she charged straight for him.

 _To be continued..._

* * *

On the next episode...

Sinon: Wow, in all the time I've played with her, I don't think I've _ever_ seen Yuuki this angry before.

Mira: Well, this jerk deserves it for what he did to master!

Yuuki: Get back here so I can shove this lightsaber down your throat, you conniving little weasel!

Phantom: Yes, little girl, _dance_ for me! Pierce me with your hatred, even when it means nothing in the grand scheme!

Nick: Hey, wingnut. Don't tell me you forgot about me?

Phantom: Oh, you respawned quickly. Are you ready for _another_ painful defeat?!

Nick: You just caught me off guard before. This time, I brought backup.

Hanmyo: I _finally_ get to have at you, you miserable freak show. Don't think you're getting away again, even _with_ your illegal stats!

Katelyn: That's right! I _definitely will not_ forgive you for hurting Nick, you sadistic creep!

Nick: Next time on _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:_ , "Virtual Insanity"!

Nick, Yuuki, Katelyn, and Hanmyo: This may be a game, but it's not something you play!


	7. Virtual Insanity

By the time Nick could feel himself respawning in the central plaza of SBC Glocken, he realized that he needed to get back to the group as fast as he could. With Phantom's illegally-boosted stats, he wasn't sure how long the rest of the group could last.

"Okay, but first things first," Nick quipped, opening his menu to send a message. "I might need to call for backup on this one."

"Backup for what?"

The familiar voice instantly drew Nick's attention, and he spun around to notice that Hanmyo was standing there, giving him a questioning glance. She still had her short purple hair and pink cloth headband, was wearing what appeared to be a tactical vest over her usual outfit, and was carrying two .357 Magnum Desert Eagle handguns.

"Oh, Nick!" Hanmyo exclaimed once she recognized her friend and ally. "I didn't think you played GGO."

"I was about to say the same to you," Nick teased.

"Since you look like you really need to go somewhere, I'll probably let you go," Hanmyo giggled. "Probably waiting for Yuuki, right?"

"No, it's a good thing you're here, Hanmyo," Nick stated. "I need your help. Phantom's here in GGO and he's attacking my friends, but it turns out he illegally hacked his Amusphere to boost his stats to nearly impossible levels. It took him only three shots to take me from full health to dead."

"Jeez, this freak just doesn't know when to quit, does he?" Hanmyo quipped. "Let's get over there right stat now!"

"Just a minute," Nick replied. "I'm calling for some more backup. We might need it."

Nick began to type out a message. _Katie, where are you right now?_

It was only a few seconds before Katelyn's response popped up. _I'm just in the dunes on floor thirty. What's up, Nick?_

 _I won't waste time explaining myself, but... do you have Gun Gale Online on your Amusphere?_

 _Actually, yes, I do. My dad was the one who wanted me to try it, but I haven't actually started playing it yet, lol._

 _Can you convert over to GGO as fast as you can? Phantom's attacking us._

 _What?! Him again?! ...I'll be right over._

 _Please hurry, Katie._

* * *

(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)

 **The Blue Time Ranger** is proud to present...  
 _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:  
_ **Story Created:** January 24th, 2018  
 **Story Rated:** T for Teen

 **Story Summary:** What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?

 **On Today's Episode:** With Phantom on the assault with his illegal status boosts, Yuuki, Sinon, and Mira appear to be in a pickle until Nick returns to the battle with Hanmyo and Katelyn backing him up. Even if they can force Phantom to retreat, will they be able to find a way to boot him out of the game with the information they've gathered about his illegal modifications? And... what else does Phantom have in store, now that his motives and plans have been laid out?

 **And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I _did_ own Sword Art Online, which I _don't_ , why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

* * *

Episode 7: Virtual Insanity

Phantom simply laughed as Yuuki rushed him, easily side-stepping her thanks to his maxed AGI.

"Foolish girl!" Phantom laughed, only to be quickly silenced when Yuuki spun back around, fast as lightning, and slashed her Kagemitsu across Phantom's torso, causing him to stumble back.

"H-How did you hit me?!" Phantom growled. "With my boosted agility, there's no way in _hell_ you could have hurt me!"

"You seem to be forgetting something, you monster," Yuuki proclaimed before jumping back to avoid retaliation. "I have _experience_ on my side. I spent at least _two years_ Full-Diving 24/7, and my reflexes are _far_ superior to yours! In case you want another example, I defeated _Kirito_ in a fair fight! _Kirito! Twice!_ "

Yuuki leaped forward, striking with an overhead slash that cut into Phantom's arm. Despite VIT in this game only measuring the health points, Yuuki was happy to see that her strike had done visible damage.

"Even still, you probably have no idea _how_ to use your stats properly like this!" Yuuki proclaimed. "All you have going for you is your illegal programs overpowering your abilities! Haven't you heard the phrase 'power is useless without experience'?! You may be super-powerful now, but you _clearly_ have no idea how to _use_ that power!"

"I don't _need_ to know how to use it to get rid of you," Phantom cackled. "All it took for your precious boyfriend was three shots and he bit the dust. I bet I'll need _less_ shots to bring _you_ to your knees. Your mistake for challenging me."

" _Your_ mistake is thinking I'm going to _let_ you!" Yuuki shouted even as Phantom raised his rifle to attack. Yuuki wasted no time in swinging her Kagemitsu to cut down every bullet that Phantom fired her way.

Phantom continued to fire, and Yuuki continued to cut down the bullets, giving Sinon ample time to move behind Phantom and fire a round into his back. This caused Phantom to stumble forward, giving Yuuki the window she needed to rush in and slash at Phantom's hand, causing him to drop his gun.

"There," Yuuki proclaimed. "Without your precious boomstick, there's really nothing you can do, is there?"

"I can still fight hand-to-hand," Phantom laughed. "Haven't you ever heard of CQC?"

"Mistake number two, freak," Sinon proclaimed, beating Yuuki to the punch. "You honestly think I'm going to let you get close to her? You _know_ how much damage I can do with this gun. Even with your unfair advantage, a headshot's still going to _hurt like hell_."

"Yeah! You're going to regret _ever_ messing with my master!" Mira exclaimed.

"Do you honestly think just the three of you can take me as I am?" Phantom taunted, only to jump away from another shot from somewhere nearby.

"Don't tell me you forgot about me already, Phantom?" Nick's voice resounded. "Talk about bad taste in your targets."

"Master! You're okay!" Mira exclaimed, dashing over to hug Nick.

"Well, well, boy, you respawned quickly," Phantom proclaimed. "I assume you want another taste of steel death?"

"You just caught me off guard last time, asshole," Nick shot back. "This time, I brought some backup with me. Girls, you're on."

Hanmyo was the first to jump out from behind Nick, firing off shot after shot from her Desert Eagles and forcing Phantom to back away.

"Here's something for you action buffs," Hanmyo quipped to nobody in particular. "I call this one my John Woo Attack!"

"...really, Hanmyo?" Nick sighed.

"...I-I was strapped for names!" Hanmyo stammered.

As Hanmyo continued to shoot at Phantom to keep him away from his gun, Katelyn moved towards Phantom, avoiding Hanmyo's line of fire to get up close and personal with her tormentor.

"Now how about you get it through your thick skull and _stop harassing us_?!" Katelyn growled, raising the weapon she'd bought on the way, a M2 Carbine rifle, and shoving it into Phantom's chest. "Here, see how _you_ like it!"

Katelyn pulled the trigger four times, each shot piercing through Phantom's chest and dealing massive damage. Despite Phantom's extremely high health, the shots had all struck a critical area and shaved his health off in large chunks.

Sinon again went for a headshot, just like she'd promised, and with Katelyn incapacitating him, her shot struck home and dropped Phantom's health by a rather significant chunk.

"You wanna call yourself invincible now, you son of a bitch?!" Nick growled.

"This... this can't be happening!" Phantom exclaimed. He was down to only a tenth of his health. "How can I lose to you, even with my supreme stats?!"

"Because you're a filthy hacker who doesn't even know _how_ to _use_ the power he's unfairly given himself!" Yuuki shot back. "Maybe _learn_ how to combine your power with _experience_ and THEN try again!"

"You won't beat me!" Phantom exclaimed, picking himself up and making a beeline for Nick. "One headshot with my stats and you're dead, boy!"

Nick prepared himself to dodge, but Yuuki was over there in a flash before Phantom could even pull the trigger again, slashing at his torso three times before driving the blade of the Kagemitsu straight through Phantom's chest, dropping his health to zero.

"Maybe this will teach you a lesson," Yuuki growled, once again surprising Nick. "Don't mess with us again, you _bastard_."

And with that, Yuuki yanked the Kagemitsu out of Phantom's chest just as his avatar began to break apart.

"N-No... I am... all... powerful..." Phantom gasped as his avatar exploded into shards of light.

Yuuki flourished the Kagemitsu proudly once Phantom had disappeared, only to look at Nick and blush like mad, realizing that he had just heard her swear for possibly the first time in her _life_.

Yuuki often stated that she knew there was some good in everyone, as her mother had taught her. Even some of her former enemies (like that one jerk from the floor twenty-seven raid party) had eventually seen the error of their ways just because of Yuuki's boundless optimism and energy.

Forgiveness, as Aiko had often put it.

However, after having given Phantom multiple chances to show some good qualities, this recent showdown had cemented in her mind that Phantom was pretty much too far gone to be saved. The sadistic way he'd laughed, the sheer delight he'd taken in defeating Nick, on top of everything he'd already made Katelyn do...

Yuuki, quite simply, _hated_ Phantom. And she'd never hated _anyone_ in her lifetime, so that was a testament to how evil Phantom made himself out to be.

"Um, Nick?" Yuuki asked, not wanting to embarrass herself any further. "Question. How much of that spiel did you hear?"

Nick simply walked up to Yuuki and patted her on the head. "Enough."

"Yikes... did I actually do that?" Yuuki gasped, her face lighting up even more. "I've never said a swear in my life and now _this_..."

"Hey, look at it this way, Yuuki," Nick replied. "Your first swear was directed at someone who really deserved it."

"I guess," Yuuki admitted. "I just... holy _fishsticks_ , I've never felt so _angry_ before this, not even the last couple times we fought him... it feels like, now that we know his motives and the reason he's doing it, it just makes _even less_ sense why he'd turn into such a monster because of his own mistakes!"

"To be honest, I have no clue how these psychopath's minds work," Nick responded, hugging Yuuki close to him. "But hey, even with his super unfair stat boosts, we _stomped_ him, just like you said you wanted to."

Yuuki couldn't help but crack a smile at that. "Yeah. Maybe he'll think twice before messing with us anymore."

"I doubt that, knowing what he's like, but at least if he _does_ try again, we'll just stomp him again and again, right?" Nick laughed.

"As many times as it takes!" Yuuki giggled.

Yuuki let Nick go, then turned towards where Katelyn and Hanmyo were standing. "Thank the both of you for coming in to back us up," Yuuki stated. "I'm pretty sure Nick sent for you when he respawned?"

"I've never converted an avatar so fast in my life," Katelyn admitted.

"I've actually been playing GGO on the side for a while myself," Hanmyo replied. "When I saw Nick in SBC Glocken talking about backup, I figured I'd see what was going on."

"I don't know why Phantom's still stalking us through different games now," Katelyn wondered. "Didn't he have enough the _last_ time we wrecked him?!"

"Apparently, he's blaming virtual reality itself for the fact that he lost his sister in Sword Art Online due to getting trapped in a dungeon that was way out of their league," Nick explained. "And instead of trying to move on, he decided to become a freakin' serial killer because he can't let it go."

"I mean, what he forced _me_ to do is bad enough," Katelyn quipped. "God only knows what else he could do if left to his own devices."

At that exact moment, Nick heard a short double beep, indicating someone had sent him a message through his Amusphere.

Nick immediately went to his menu to open the message, knowing it was probably his mother checking in on him again. She always did when he was visiting Yuuki, just to make sure they were doing okay.

After opening the message he'd received, Nick's expression immediately darkened.

Yuuki was the first to see a flash of fear on Nick's face, which quickly turned to a blank stare, before being replaced by a visage of pure, unyielding rage.

She had seen Nick angry before, especially in previous battles with Phantom.

But _this_...

"If he even _dares_..." Nick growled, immediately swiping through his menu to log out before Yuuki could say anything to stop him.

"What was _that_ all about?" Hanmyo wondered as Nick's avatar fell to the ground, giving the impression that he was merely unconscious instead of logged out, due to the "soulless logout" feature that GGO shared with ALfheim Online.

"Hope he doesn't mind me checking," Yuuki giggled, even when inside, she was worried. What exactly had Nick seen to drive him to such a rage?

Kneeling down by Nick's unconscious avatar, Yuuki took his hand and used it to reopen his menu, moving to the message inbox and opening the one Nick had just ready for everyone present to see.

What they saw easily made them understand why Nick had bailed on them.

 _Better hurry, boy. If you don't make haste, I don't know what might happen to my new playmate._

And there was a picture attached.

It was Phantom, holding one of his arms out to take a selfie.

The scary thing about it?

Phantom was using his other arm to hold Nick's mother Rhea hostage, a razor-sharp knife clearly placed within inches of her throat.

Yuuki's body shivered with a combination of both fright and anger before opening her own menu.

"Watch over us, you guys," Yuuki proclaimed.

"You know it," Hanmyo stated as Yuuki logged out as well. Knowing Nick, he was probably already halfway to his destination by now.

"We should follow them," Katelyn proclaimed. "I know the way. I've been to Nick's house before, after all. I _really_ don't like the sound of this."

"You read my mind," Sinon replied.

"Please hurry and help master, okay?" Mira asked. "I can make it back to Glocken on my own."

"Will do, Mira," Hanmyo stated as she, Sinon and Katelyn moved to log out, hoping beyond all hope that they weren't too late.

* * *

Nick continued to tear through the city streets as fast as his legs could possibly carry him, ignoring everything he passed and anyone he accidentally bumped into on the way.

He could only pray that he would return home in time to save his mother and father.

It felt like an eternity had passed by the time he finally reached his house, even though it had only been five minutes since leaving the hospital.

Steeling himself for what he would find, Nick lifted his foot and slammed it hard into the front door, forcing it open so Nick could enter and assess the situation.

 _Mom, where are you?_ Nick thought as he continued to move through the hallways towards the living room, the most likely spot that Phantom would be, since that's where the picture had been taken. _Oh, god, please tell me dad's okay, too..._

After taking a few more steps, Nick heard the low sounds of Phantom's mad cackling and made a beeline for it, eventually coming to the living room where Phantom was holding Rhea with a knife to her throat, almost exactly as the picture had shown.

"N-Nick? What's going on?" Rhea gasped.

"Get your filthy hands off of my mother, you bastard," Nick growled. "I'm _not_ going to ask you again."

"I warned you, didn't I?" Phantom laughed. "I have grand plans, and I _will_ eliminate _any_ obstacles that stand in the way of those plans."

"Phantom, I swear to god, if you hurt my mother in _any_ way, I'm going to take that knife and _jam it down your goddamn throat_ ," Nick threatened, shifting into a combat stance. He could only hope that the skills ingrained from his experiences in VR would be able to help him here in the real world.

Despite the fact that he knew virtual strength rarely translated to real strength, he hoped it would, just this once.

"You _really_ don't understand the position you're in here, do you?" Phantom sneered. "One false move and I'll cut her throat so fast you won't even see it coming. Can you really get to me before I do that?"

"Have you lost your mind, Phantom?!" Nick shouted. "Is this really what your sister would have wanted?!"

That got Phantom to stop in his tracks for a split second. Nick decided to capitalize.

"Yes, I understand what you lost," Nick continued. "But would she really want you to descend into insanity over it?! Would she want you to become a killer just to avenge her? How is that honoring her memory?!"

"Shut up, you wretch," Phantom growled.

"You still don't get it, do you?" Nick shot back. "What would she say to you if she knew you were doing all these wretched things just because of a cruel twist of fate?"

"I said SHUT UP," Phantom proclaimed.

Nick tensed up, ready to charge at a moment's notice. "Phantom, _open your eyes_. This isn't who you are and you know it. I can see the pain in your eyes, the pain you feel you have to inflict on this world because you can't bottle it up. You don't have to be this monster."

"You don't know _anything about me_ , you son of a bitch!" Phantom screamed, his right arm moving slightly away from Rhea's throat.

Nick saw his opportunity, rushing forward to both slap the knife out of Phantom's hands and shove him to the ground.

"Mom, run!" Nick shouted. "I'll hold him off!"

"What about you?!" Rhea cried.

"I can take this nutjob," Nick replied.

Rhea hesitated, but realized that Nick had, indeed, dealt with Phantom before, having been there to witness what had happened with Katelyn, and moved to retreat to the dining room.

Nick was about to follow her, so he could find something to battle Phantom with, when he heard a whooshing sound, like something had just been thrown.

And then... that _other_ sound...

...that nasty, choking sound...

Every single nerve ending in Nick's entire body told him not to follow the sound to where it had come from. Nick looked anyway.

And he felt his heart break in twain when he saw.

Phantom had almost immediately recovered from the attack, and had scooped up his knife and thrown it like a javelin. And, to Nick's horror, the blade had slashed through Rhea's throat before embedding itself in the kitchen wall.

Rhea clutched futilely at the wound before falling on her face, stone cold and unmoving.

Nick knew she was dead.

But the rest of his body was failing to respond.

As if his eyes were trying to deny the gruesome and horrific sight that lay before him.

Phantom just laughed maniacally. "You see, boy?! You see what happens when you stand in my way?!" Phantom proclaimed. "Oh, and if you're looking for your precious father, I wouldn't advise going upstairs, if you catch my drift."

 _No... dad's gone, too?_

Nick fell to his knees in despair, not sure if he wanted to cry or scream.

"Yes, boy, give in to your despair!" Phantom shouted. "This is what awaits _everyone_ who still backs virtual reality like it's the second coming while still staying ignorant of what happened those four years ago!"

Nick said nothing, only slowly stepping towards where his mother lay, still hoping that this was just an illusion or a dream.

"Your mother played ALO with you, right?!" Phantom taunted. "That means she was part of the problem! Willfully ignoring the problem instead of advocating against it... she deserved her death at my blade!"

At that precise moment, something in Nick's mind snapped. All he could see was red, and all he could think of was getting his hands on Phantom and tearing him apart.

"Death! They _all_ deserve death!" Phantom laughed. "Every last one of them!"

Nick rose to his feet, his mind not even registering the sound of his front door being kicked open yet again. He didn't pay attention to the voices that were calling his name. He didn't pay any mind to the fact that they all sounded very familiar.

The only thought in his mind was telling him to kill Phantom right here and right now.

While Phantom was busy laughing, Nick went into the kitchen, pointedly ignoring the knife in the wall, and dug into the cabinets to retrieve a much larger knife.

Yuuki, Shino, Katelyn, and Shoko stopped in their tracks when they saw the sight before them.

"Oh, what, do you really intend to fight me with that?" Phantom taunted.

"I don't intend to fight you, you murderer," Nick growled. Before Phantom could interrupt him, he raised the knife, pointing its blade dead center between Phantom's eyes.

The moment Nick's gaze met Phantom's, the psychopath actually flinched back in reflexive fear of the rage building in Nick's eyes.

"I intend to _kill you_ and send you to hell _where you goddamn belong!_ "

Nick didn't waste a second longer as he charged Phantom, fully intent on ending this killer's existence.

Phantom attempted to raise his own fists to block Nick's incoming attack, but Nick let his rage give him strength and struck with a vicious overhead chop, the strike actually drawing blood and leaving a gash in Phantom's arm.

"You BASTARD!" Phantom exclaimed.

"Look who's talking, you son of a bitch!" Nick shot right back, swinging horizontally and leaving Phantom with another wound. "You're calling _me_ a bastard for hurting you when _you killed my parents right in front of me!_ So forgive me if I ask you to spare me your degenerate _bullshit_!"

Nick stabbed forward with the knife, only for Phantom to leap away and jump straight through the living room window and make his escape, laughing maniacally as he did so.

"Get back here, you psychopath! I'm not done with you!" Nick screamed.

Nick heard a footstep and spun around, ready to pounce on anyone else that tried to attack him.

But when he saw Yuuki staring at him, with tears in her own eyes, all of his rage instantly dissolved, causing his shaking hands to release the knife and let it clatter to the floor.

Nick fell to his knees again, but this time, Yuuki was immediately over there to hug Nick as tightly as she could and whisper soothing words to him.

Yuuki was no stranger to losing family, so she knew how Nick felt. And she considered it her duty to be there when her boyfriend needed her more than ever.

"Shino, can you call the police?" Yuuki asked, her tone level but made clear that she felt like crying, too.

"I'm on it," Shino replied, immediately going for her cell phone.

Yuuki just held Nick, letting him vent all of his sorrow and sadness to her.

"This is all my fault, isn't it?" Nick stammered.

 _That_ line easily caught everyone's attention. "W-what do you mean, 'your fault'?" Yuuki asked.

"I wasn't fast enough..." Nick cried. "I tried to get mom away from him, but he just threw the knife when I wasn't looking... if I had just been paying attention... maybe..."

"Don't."

Yuuki knew _instantly_ where Nick's train of thought was going, and she inwardly decided she wasn't having _any_ of it. Before Nick could continue, Yuuki simply hugged Nick tighter.

"W-what?"

"I said, _don't_ say it's your fault," Yuuki replied, finally allowing her own tears to start falling. " _None_ of this was your fault. If you blame yourself, you won't ever stop, and I don't think I can take that. You didn't know _any_ of this was going to happen."

"But if I had just been quicker..." Nick started, only for Yuuki to look up and kiss Nick as passionately as she could.

Nick returned the kiss in earnest, seeking the comfort he desperately needed in his girlfriend's warmth.

"I-I'm sorry, Yuuki," Nick gasped.

"Hey, you've got nothing to be sorry about," Yuuki answered. "The only one who's going to be sorry is Phantom if I ever get my hands on him."

"That goes for me, too," Katelyn replied.

"Same here," Shoko proclaimed.

When Nick gave her a confused look, Shoko simply giggled. "Oh, sorry, I probably should have explained that. My name's Shoko, and as you can probably guess, I'm the girl behind Hanmyo. I really wish we could have met under better circumstances, honestly..."

Shoko had purple eyes and short, brown hair in a bobcut with a few streaks of hair dyed the same shade of purple that Hanmyo's hair was. Shoko and Hanmyo were almost night and day with their appearances.

"Hey, don't worry, okay?" Shoko stated, walking up to hug Nick as well. "We'll find Phantom and make him pay for what he's done if it's the last thing I _ever_ do."

"I concur," Katelyn continued, joining in the group hug. "He already made it personal after what he did to me, but I won't _ever_ forgive him for this."

"Damn right on that," Shino proclaimed, hugging Nick from behind. She figured she might as well, since Nick needed all the comfort he could get. "Phantom already crossed a line by hurting my friend."

Despite his sorrow, Nick couldn't help but smile. He really _did_ have the best friends ever.

When the police finally arrived, Nick simply explained what had happened, even directing the officers upstairs, as he couldn't bear to see what Phantom had done to his father.

Sure enough, the officers warned Nick away from going upstairs, as it "wasn't a pretty sight", according to them.

"Do you have anywhere you can stay?" one of the officers asked Nick, and that's when he realized he was kind of in a pickle. With both of his parents dead and most of his relatives still living in America, Nick didn't really have anywhere to stay. And considering the hospital most likely wouldn't let him take up residence...

"Hey, I have an idea," Katelyn stated. "Why don't I see if my mom will let you stay with us for a while, Nick?"

"You'd do that, Katie?" Nick asked.

"Hey, you _are_ my best friend, and friends look out for each other," Katelyn replied. "You've been so good to me, even when I had my little 'episode' under Phantom's mind games, so I figured this is the _least_ I could do to repay you for your kindness, even when I thought I didn't deserve it."

"I really do have the best friends ever, don't I?" Nick stated, trying his best to avoid another crying fit. He already felt like he'd shed enough tears for a whole lifetime in the past couple minutes.

But, despite his efforts, the tears won out, and he started crying again. But this time, his friends, the people he loved more than anything else in the world at this moment in time, were there to keep him from falling into the darkness of his own sorrow.

* * *

After a short detour to return Yuuki to the hospital, as she had no doubt chased after Nick once he'd left, Katelyn led Nick back to her own house so she could explain to her mother what was happening.

"I think you'll like my mom, Nick," Katelyn stated. "She's a really nice lady."

Nick said nothing, still reflecting on the events of the past couple hours.

Sensing his distress, Katelyn leaned over and kissed Nick on the cheek.

"Remember, buddy, we're here for you," Katelyn giggled. "There's no way in _hell_ that we're making you go through this alone."

"T-thanks, Katie," Nick replied.

"Mom? I'm home!" Katelyn proclaimed, calling for her mother. "There's something I need to ask you!"

After a few second, the door opened to reveal Katelyn's mother Heidi. They were quite similar in appearance, only Heidi's hair was only about shoulder length and she had glasses that framed her slightly brighter green eyes.

"What is it, Katie?" Heidi asked, just now noticing Nick standing with Katelyn. "Oh, who's your friend?"

"Mom, do you remember Nick? He was a really good friend of mine when we were young," Katelyn explained.

"Oh, yeah, I remember him now! You two used to be inseparable," Heidi laughed. It was then that she noticed Nick's expression, still holding back tears. "Is... everything okay, dear?"

"That's... actually what I wanted to talk about," Katelyn stated, squeezing Nick's hand gently. "A couple hours ago... Nick's parents were killed, and now he has nowhere to stay."

"Oh, goodness, is that why you ran off?" Heidi realized. "You seemed so frantic..."

"By the time I got there, it was too late. They were both..." Katelyn sighed. "Ugh, that's a memory I'd rather not relive... but, to the point I'm trying to make. Would it be okay if Nick stayed with us for a while?"

"Of course, dear," Heidi replied. "How about I go get the guest room set up for you?"

"That'd be wonderful," Nick stated. "Thank you so much."

Once everything had been set up for Nick, night had fallen, and Nick and Katelyn were in her room discussing various events, mostly what they were going to do about Phantom, since he was still on the loose.

"I'm worried, Katie," Nick admitted. "What are we going to do if Phantom starts killing people again? I _really_ don't want any more lives on my conscience..."

"I told the officers everything about Phantom," Katelyn replied. "They'll be on his trail for as long as it takes. We'll leave it to them until he comes calling, and if he does, we'll stomp him. Okay?"

That said, Katelyn practically dove down onto her bed, thoroughly exhausted from the day's events.

"Man, I could sleep for a _week_ after all of this," Katelyn sighed. "What do you say, Nick? You wanna turn in for the night? You _do_ have school in the morning, and I know you hate that stupid biology lesson in science class."

"Honestly, I'm hardened to that nonsense by now," Nick admitted. "But you've got a good point. I'll need my sleep if I'm gonna survive science class tomorrow. I'll see you in the morning, 'kay, Katie?"

"Nick, wait."

Nick turned around to see Katelyn lightly patting the side of her bed, almost as if she was...

"How about you sleep here tonight?"

Nick immediately blushed, knowing what Katie was offering.

"Hey, no need to get so flustered, silly," Katelyn laughed. "I'm not suggesting... well, _that_ , since I already told you I'm not going to try and get between you and Yuuki."

"Then..."

Katelyn simply smiled. "I just figured you wouldn't want to be alone right now. You've been through something no one your age should _ever_ have to suffer, no matter who they are. You need people, Nick. You need someone to be there for you in your time of need. I wanna be the one to dry your tears when Yuuki can't. After all, you're my best friend."

"And best friends always back each other up," Nick quipped, finishing the line that he and Katelyn had always recited together in their youth.

Nick climbed into the bed after Katie, though he was still nervous, something Katelyn instantly picked up on.

"Everything okay, Nick?" Katelyn asked.

"I'm scared, Katie..." Nick admitted. "You know that I tend to have nightmares when I lose someone I care about... I practically had _night terrors_ when my grandmother died, because I never got the chance to patch things up with her..."

Katelyn, even as she drew the bedsheets over them, simply kissed Nick on the forehead. "That's what I'm here for, Nick. As long as I can, I'll chase away the nightmares for you. You won't fall into the darkness as long as I have anything to say about it."

With that, Nick was finally able to fall into peaceful slumber. Katelyn held Nick close to her, determined to keep her promise and drive away the darkness that threatened to consume Nick.

Happy that she could finally help out her dearest friend after so long apart, Katelyn fell into slumber as well.

* * *

"WHY IS IT STILL CHASING AFTER ME?! SOMEONE GET THIS THING OFF MY BACK!"

Nick couldn't help but chuckle even as he moved back in to shoot the gigantic monster's weak spot on its back, hoping to draw its attention away from the rapidly fleeing Katelyn.

"Maybe we need to topple it," Hanmyo proclaimed even as she continued to fire shots from her twin Desert Eagles. "Yuuki, can you get in close and hit its legs?"

"You read my mind, Hanmyo!" Yuuki exclaimed, dashing towards the marching beast and slashing her Kagemitsu at its left hind leg, the damage dealt causing it to slip and fall, crashing headlong into a nearby dune.

"It's vulnerable!" Mira shouted.

"All right, let's turn this thing into swiss cheese!" Katelyn shouted. "This is for chasing me all over the map, you freak show!"

All six players began to fire on the monster at once, Katelyn in particular spamming shots from her newest weapon, a Benelli M4 Super 90 semi-auto shotgun, and before long, the monster's health was depleted. It raised its massive claws to attempt one final strike at Katelyn, but she simply raised her shotgun and blasted the claws away from her as the monster exploded into shards of light.

"Well, that was... a thing," Yuuki quipped. "Didn't think a field boss was going to jump us so quickly."

"And for _that_ matter, WHY WAS IT CHASING _ME_?!" Katelyn wailed. "Hanmyo was the one who shot it first!"

"Oh, don't try and pin this one on me!" Hanmyo shot back. " _You're_ the one who woke it up by traipsing all over its squatting grounds!"

"How the hell was I supposed to know that _thing_ was there when it was buried halfway under the freakin' dunes?!" Katelyn retorted. "And besides, wasn't Sinon the one who shot it into the cliff wall?!"

"H-hey, hey, don't blame me for that! Would you rather I get squished?!" Sinon stuttered.

"We really are a bunch of cards, aren't we?" Nick quipped.

"No kidding," Yuuki giggled. "Hey, Nick? You look a lot better. It's only been a couple days since..."

"Well, it's like I said to Katie," Nick admitted. "I really do have the best friends ever."

"I'm proud of her for helping you out when I couldn't," Yuuki stated. "She's an angel, that Katie."

"Definitely," Nick quipped, before stammering slightly, hoping Yuuki didn't take that the wrong way. "I-I-I mean, n-not like _that_ , I mean, oh crap oh god oh crap..."

Yuuki just giggled before leaning over to give Nick a kiss. "It's okay, silly. You don't have to freak out."

"It's just... you're my first girlfriend, and despite everything, I'm still worried that I'm gonna say the wrong thing and set you off..." Nick admitted.

"Nick, you seriously don't have to worry," Yuuki stated. "I'm not gonna flip out, promise. I know how much Katie cares about you."

Yuuki grinned widely. "Besides, the only one who can 'set me off' _knows_ not to come knockin' around us anymore, or he's gonna get a world-class thrashing. Right?"

"You know it," Nick proclaimed. "He's gonna _rue_ the day he _ever_ messed with us."

Just now realizing that they weren't going to get anywhere unless they got Katelyn and Hanmyo to stop arguing, Yuuki fired a shot into the air, loud enough to get everyone's attention.

"Okay, now that all eyes are on me, how about we get going and find the base we were looking for?" Yuuki proclaimed. "That _is_ what we were doing before mister super-mutant jumped us, isn't it?"

"Ehehehe... good point," Katelyn stated. Hanmyo just sighed in defeat, and Mira just laughed.

The group continued their way across the dunes until they finally found a service elevator near where they'd accidentally awakened the field boss.

"Well, at least now we know what that thing was guarding," Sinon quipped.

"Shall we head down the elevator and see what we'll find?" Katelyn proclaimed.

Nick was about to agree to that when he heard something flying through the air towards them.

"SCATTER!" Nick shouted.

The instant the party saw a fragmentation grenade coming their way, they decided to listen to Nick and dive away in opposite directions. Thankfully, they were able to get behind cover just in time, as the grenade exploded instantly upon contact with the ground where they had just been.

"All right, who's the wise guy?!" Yuuki exclaimed.

"Take a wild guess," Nick growled, pointing to just west of the elevator. Phantom was standing there, holding a set of frag grenades.

"You've got _some nerve_ showing your face around us after what you did!" Sinon proclaimed, aiming her Hecate straight for Phantom's head. "Do you _seriously_ want another beatdown?!"

"You will _pay_ for wounding me, you wretched brats," Phantom growled. "But I guess you should count yourself lucky that I'm not after you this time."

"Wait, _this time_?" Nick repeated. "Start making sense, asshole!"

Phantom just laughed maniacally. "Oh, I thought I told you that I intend to eliminate this wretched hive of scum who _still_ embrace virtual reality despite everything it's done. And I believe I know exactly where to start, after all."

Katelyn raised her shotgun threateningly, hoping to procure some information. "Start talking, jerk-o! I've had enough of you!"

"Where in this city, pray tell, is there a school _full_ of people who survived that wretched game?" Phantom stated. "One where a certain 'Lightning Flash' is studying for her next exam right now?"

"H-How did you find out about that school?!" Yuuki exclaimed, activating her Kagemitsu at the mere mention of the National Vocational School, better known as the Sword Art Online Survivors Academy. The same school where Kirito, Asuna, and all of their friends currently attended, since they were all SAO survivors. "What exactly are you planning?!"

"Hmph. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out, should it?" Phantom laughed before opening his menu to log out.

The horrifying realization hit Yuuki like a speeding truck. "Oh my god, he's going to go after Asuna and her friends!"

"Seriously, is this nutball going to keep harassing us until the end of time?!" Hanmyo shouted.

"Guys, _guys_ , what are we supposed to do?!" Yuuki exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure doc won't let me leave the hospital on my own a _third_ time! I think I used up all my freebies..."

Nick moved forward to pull Yuuki into a hug. "Don't worry, Yuuki. I'll go. To be honest, as far as I'm concerned, your friends are my friends. Besides, I think it's time to finally settle the score with this psychotic nutjob."

"Please be careful, okay, Nick?" Yuuki asked.

"Always," Nick replied.

"I'm coming with you, Nick," Katelyn stated. "You're gonna need the backup."

Nick and Katelyn nodded to each other before logging out. When they returned to reality, they met up back at Katelyn's house before setting off for the SAO Survivors Academy, ready to put an end to Phantom once and for all.

 _To be continued..._

* * *

On the next episode...

Nick: All right, Phantom, we end this now. Don't think you're walking away from me this time!

Katelyn: After everything you've done, we're taking you down for good, freak! We won't let you kill another innocent person!

Phantom: Try and stop me, fools! This is my destiny, after all! I will _destroy_ your wretched virtual world, person by person if I must!

Asuna: What's going on here? Who the heck are _you_?!

Phantom: I am your _end_ , girl! I am the _end_ of every single person who still plays these goddamn VRMMO games!

Nick: Out of the question, Phantom! I don't care how I have to do it, but you are _not_ leaving this place alive! Next time on _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:_ , "The Ghosts of SAO"!

Nick, Yuuki, Katelyn, and Hanmyo: This may be a game, but it's not something you play!


	8. The Ghosts of SAO

"Hey, Kazuto!"

The distant call of his name altered Kazuto Kirigaya that his girlfriend, Asuna Yuuki, was approaching quickly.

"How was your class today, Asuna?" Kazuto asked, only to be met with a groan. He knew that feeling all too well. "That bad, huh?"

"Now I know how Nick feels about biology," Asuna sighed. "That was just unspeakable..."

Asuna smiled as she brought out a lunch box. "Good news is, I made lunch for us today!"

"Something to wash down that awful taste of biology, huh?" Kazuto laughed.

"Please don't make me relive it," Asuna pleaded as she reached into the box to pull out one of her famous sandwiches. "Let's just have our lunch and forget all about it."

"Sounds good to me," Kazuto replied.

As Kazuto and Asuna happily munched on their sandwiches (once again unaware of Rika and Keiko watching them from the window of the cafeteria), a shadowy figure stalked through the bushes just behind them, making sure to make as little noise as possible.

After all, Kazuto still had this uncanny ability to sense trouble, even outside of the game.

"You're the one who finished the game," Phantom proclaimed, keeping his voice as low as he could. "You're the reason I can't be with my sister, you freak."

Phantom reached down to pull out his combat knife, already stained with the blood of the people he'd killed.

"Which means I'm going to take great delight in ending your pitiful life, you heartless excuse for a human being."

Phantom couldn't hide his glee at the incoming kill, though he made no noise to show it.

"See you in hell, Black Swordsman."

* * *

(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)

 **The Blue Time Ranger** is proud to present...  
 _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:  
_ **Story Created:** January 24th, 2018  
 **Story Rated:** T for Teen

 **Story Summary:** What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?

 **On Today's Episode:** Phantom is attacking the Sword Art Online Survivors Academy, having fully embraced his inner madness and intent on slaughtering everyone who had been a part of SAO. Unknown to him, however, Nick and Katelyn are not far behind him, their minds focused on only one goal: putting an end to Phantom once and for all. But Phantom is still an unpredictable opponent, fully immersed in his own insanity. What tricks will Phantom reveal in this battle, and can Nick avenge his parents and finish off Phantom for good?

 **And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I _did_ own Sword Art Online, which I _don't_ , why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

* * *

Episode 8: The Ghosts of SAO

"How much further, Katie?" Nick gasped, still running faster than he ever had before. He knew they had to get to the SAO Survivors Academy before it was too late.

"Just a couple more blocks," Katelyn replied, casting a glance at her phone's GPS tracking software that was leading them to the school. "Don't worry, Nick. We're going to end this today, right?"

"Damn straight," Nick responded. "He's _really_ crossed a line this time."

Alas, when they reached the front gates of the SAO Survivors Academy, Nick and Katelyn caught a glimpse of a body lying just out of sight of the gates, a rather vicious stab wound in the man's back making it quite obvious what had killed him.

"Oh, god, _please_ don't tell me we're too late..." Nick proclaimed.

Katelyn glanced around the area, hoping to find something they could use to track Phantom and find out which way he had slinked off.

"Hey, I think I see something," Katelyn quipped, noticing a trail of blood drops, no doubt left by Phantom's blade, that skewed off to the northwest. "Follow the blood, we'll find the freak."

And so they followed the blood trail across the different areas of the school, hoping to find Phantom before he made his way inside the school itself.

"Oh, shit, there's another one," Nick stammered, pointing to a second body having been thrown into the bushes to the left.

"Okay, I'm calling the police," Katelyn stated. "Maybe they can help us out."

While Katelyn did that, calling the local police and alerting them of the dead bodies they'd found, Nick continued to search for Phantom, eventually seeing movement in a nearby patch of bushes.

Looking up, Nick also saw Kazuto and Asuna enjoying their sandwiches, no doubt unaware of the psychopath approaching them.

"Katie, stay with the body when the officers arrive, okay?" Nick asked. "I'm going after Phantom."

"Roger that," Katelyn proclaimed. "I'll rejoin you when I can. And... Nick?"

Katelyn moved closer and kissed Nick on the cheek. "Please be careful."

"Promise," Nick replied before heading off to confront Phantom.

Phantom took a few steps closer before readying himself to attack. All he needed was one good slash to the neck and it would be all over.

Gauging his range, Phantom decided that now was the time, and lunged straight for where Kazuto was sitting.

"See you in hell, Black Swordsman!" Phantom cackled madly. Kazuto only had time to turn around as Phantom attacked.

Before Kazuto or Asuna could do anything, Nick dashed in and threw a right hook into Phantom's face, sending him tumbling to the ground a few feet away.

"Don't you _dare_ , you psychotic murderer," Nick growled.

"You really do have this annoying habit of showing up where you're not welcome," Phantom proclaimed after picking himself up.

"I could say the same about you, freak," Nick stated.

"Well, since we're in agreement there, how about you just beat it and let me have my fun?" Phantom cackled.

"Not when your 'fun' involves killing _innocent people_!" Nick shot back. "Do you _really_ want me to run down the list as to why I'm here?!"

"Spare me your philosophical tirades," Phantom laughed. "I'm here on important business, so if you don't mind..."

"Um, actually, I _do_ mind," Nick proclaimed, shifting into a fighting stance. "I'm officially done with you _and_ your insanity, Phantom!"

"Oh, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you'll have to do better than that, boy!" Phantom proclaimed, lunging for Nick with his bloodstained knife. Nick easily dodged the strike, going into a roll to avoid damage, only to find Phantom gone when he picked himself up.

"Wait, where did he...?"

"Nick, he's heading into the school!" Katelyn exclaimed from afar.

"Son of a bitch!" Nick cursed. "Katie, fill Kazuto and Asuna in on what's happening, okay? I'm going after that bastard."

"Sock him one for me, okay?" Katelyn giggled.

"Will do," Nick stated before charging after Phantom and into the school itself, hoping he'd be able to put an end to this once and for all.

"Um, would someone mind telling me what's going on here?" Asuna wondered.

"Yeah, who was that jerk that tried to knife me?" Kazuto asked.

"Long story, but I'll tell you on the way," Katelyn replied, taking both Kazuto and Asuna's hands and pulling them along. "By the way, is there any backup you two can call for?"

"I know someone," Kazuto answered, retrieving his cell phone and dialing a certain number. "Sugu, where are you right now? ...please come to the school as soon as you can. We might need you."

Nick practically flew up the stairs to the second floor as he continued his search for Phantom. To his relief, he hadn't seen any more dead bodies during his search, but he knew he needed to act fast before Phantom killed anyone else.

Just then, Nick stopped in his tracks, having heard a strange song in his head.

But... he was pretty sure no one else was near him. And _definitely_ no one would be singing peacefully in _this_ chaos.

Shaking it off for now, Nick continued his journey to find his opponent, just missing the transparent figure that had appeared behind him.

Once Nick reached the second floor, he heard commotion in the nearby cafeteria, and one of the voices was definitely Phantom.

Not wasting any time, Nick barreled through the door, coming face to face with Phantom, only this time, he was holding another hostage.

Keiko Ayano, also known as Silica, was stone still, knowing that one false move would be the end of her. A few feet away, Rika Shinozaki, also known as Lisbeth, was down on her knees and clutching her chest in pain, apparently having been attacked by Phantom in an attempt to save Keiko.

"Let her go, Phantom," Nick proclaimed. "I'm _not_ going to ask you again."

Phantom, in response, simply began to laugh like a madman.

"Don't you see, boy?" Phantom stated. "This is what I... no, this is what _we_ were destined for! I have been chosen to bring this wretched virtual world and everyone who ever played a part in it to its grisly and well-deserved end!"

 _He's_ _ **really**_ _lost it now..._ Nick thought, then realizing something about what Phantom had just said. _Wait, did he say 'we'? Who else did he pressure into his whacked schemes?!_

"Every single student in this school is part of the problem," Phantom continued. "And they should know better! They were trapped in Sword Art Online for _two whole years_! TWO YEARS stuck inside of a game that could actually kill them if they die in the game and they _still_ continue to play them today?! You'll have to excuse me if I find that a little hard to believe!"

"You're the one who isn't making any sense, Phantom," Nick shot back. "What did I tell you earlier? Virtual reality isn't what's dangerous, it's the psychos who use it for nefarious purposes! Weren't you listening to a word I said?!"

"Death! They all deserve death! Every last one of them!" Phantom laughed, sounding more and more unhinged as he went on. "I will be the one to grant them the end they deserve!"

Phantom suddenly yowled in pain, dropping his knife. Nick glanced down and saw that the cause was Keiko, having decided to bite Phantom's hand while he was distracted. Keiko took advantage of Phantom's momentary stunned state to drive her elbow into his chest, forcing him to release her, followed by a jumping spin kick that knocked Phantom down.

Keiko just smiled. "Kazuto-san's been teaching me martial arts on our days off," Keiko giggled. "I absolutely _refuse_ to be the baby who everyone _has_ to protect. This time, _I_ want to protect my friends!"

"Well said, Keiko!" Rika exclaimed, having made a quick detour to the kitchen area to retrieve a large butcher's knife and hand it over to Nick, mostly to give him something to fight with.

Nick was happy to see that there wasn't a single stain of blood on Rika's body, meaning Phantom had most likely just punched her to incapacitate her.

"Now kick this guy's face in for us, 'kay?" Rika stated.

"That was always part of the plan," Nick proclaimed. He hadn't spent that much time with Rika and Keiko outside of ALO, but they were definitely fun to be around, and he'd already stated that any friends of Asuna and Yuuki were friends of his by proxy. It was just how he was.

Nick turned around, only to spot Phantom attempting to slink away. "Where do you think you're going?!" Nick shouted.

"I must go and give this entire school the death they richly deserve," Phantom proclaimed.

"Well, sorry to disappoint _you_ , freak show, but you're not going _anywhere_ ," Nick proclaimed, brandishing the butcher's knife that Rika had given him and pointing it straight for Phantom. "We end this right here, _right now_! I swear, on the memory of my dear parents and the memory of everyone else you've killed in your sick little revenge plot, _you are not leaving this place alive!_ "

Phantom turned back around, a very much insane grin lighting his face, and readied his own knife. "Very well, boy. Then let us begin!"

Nothing more needed to be said as Nick and Phantom charged for each other.

Keiko and Rika wisely moved away as the blades began to fly, Nick striking out at Phantom only to be blocked, then switching to defense himself when Phantom came at him with a wild swing.

After ducking another wild swing, Nick thrust his right foot out and kicked Phantom through the cafeteria doors, only for him to land on his feet and run down the stairs with Nick in hot pursuit.

Rika and Keiko nodded to each other, silently agreeing that they needed to find the others before any more chaos broke out, before leaving the cafeteria themselves but turning down a different hallway to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

Many students who were filing their way into the hallways for their next activity were about to run for their lives when they saw Phantom coming their way with a maniacal grin plastered all over his face, only for Nick to grind down the large banister rail (something he'd always wanted to do, honestly) and leap through the air to slash his own knife across Phantom's back and force him to turn back and face Nick.

"Don't you see, boy? All of these former SAO rats, ripe for the slaughter?" Phantom cackled.

"You've clearly lost your mind, Phantom," Nick proclaimed.

"Oh, I'm thinking more clearly than I _ever_ have in my life!" Phantom laughed.

"You'll have to forgive me if I call _bullshit_ on that!" Nick shot back.

"If you don't reconsider my stance, boy, then I will grant you death just like everyone else!" Phantom shouted, lunging forward to attack Nick.

"SOUJI!"

Phantom apparently stopped upon hearing that name, giving Shoko, the girl who played Hanmyo on ALO and GGO, ample time to push her way through the crowd and sock the psycho in the face with a wicked right hook.

"Sorry I'm late, Nick," Shoko stated.

"Better late than never," Nick replied. "I could really use the help against this asshole."

"Get out of my way, child," Phantom proclaimed. "Unless you want to die as well."

"You're not escaping this time," Shoko proclaimed. "So just accept defeat and get it over with, Souji."

"Oh, so _now_ you remember me?" Souji growled.

"Wait, Han... I mean, Shoko, you know this creep?" Nick wondered.

"I didn't put the pieces together until recently, to be honest," Shoko answered. "When you first told me about Phantom, I was wondering why the way you described him sounded so familiar, but then I remembered."

Shoko closed her eyes as she recalled those days like they were only yesterday. "I never told you guys this before, but I'm also a survivor of Sword Art Online. Souji was one of my friends back in SAO, but we always called him 'Phantom', since that was his player name. Souji... was the one who saved my life, to be honest. I was in a pretty bad spot when I got caught by a pack of monsters after running out of items during a dungeon. I was on my way back to restock when a pack of monsters jumped me, apparently part of some rare event spawn. I tried my best to fight back, but they overpowered me. With no way of healing myself, I was pretty sure I was going to be just a memory. But then, Souji and his two pals saved me by attacking the monsters before they could finish me off."

Shoko glanced back at Souji, hard-pressed to believe that the once cocky but honorable player that had saved her from death had turned into a psychotic serial killer. "Souji always talked about his sister, and how she was his sole reason for surviving in the death game we'd been trapped in. And she was a real sweetheart, too. I really wish she could have survived, but... as I'm sure you already know, Nick, Souji and his sister went into a dungeon one day, only to be attacked by monsters far beyond their level. And Souji was the only one who made it out alive. He changed that day. I really wish I'd seen it coming beforehand, but I never got to ask him about it because Sword Art Online was cleared two days after that, and I never saw him again until... well, _this_."

Shoko tensed up, ready to fight if she needed to. The boy who had saved her life was gone, now just a pale imitation of his former self. "What happened to you, Souji? Why did you turn into such a monster?"

Shoko wisely ducked when Souji lunged at her, her words having clearly struck a nerve.

"You know goddamn well why!" Souji growled, swinging his knife at Shoko again and again only for her to deftly dodge each and every strike. "I promised revenge on everything that took my dear Nanako from me, and _everyone_ who contributed to this wretched virtual insanity will pay the _ultimate price_!"

Shoko reached out to catch Souji's arm in mid-thrust, shifting her weight to powerslam him to the ground.

"You used to be such a cool guy, Souji," Shoko sighed. "But you became a serial killer because you couldn't let it go. I miss Nanako, too, but she wouldn't want you to become _this_ because of what happened."

"That's exactly what _he_ said!" Souji shouted, gesturing towards Nick, who was ready to advance. "Don't you understand?! Nanako's soul is _crying_ for vengeance, and I _will_ unleash that vengeance on everyone responsible!"

Souji spun before leaping back to his feet and moving to attack Shoko again, but she still expertly dodged each attack Souji made, only moving in to attack after an overhead swing, dipping her right shoulder down so she could tackle Souji and shove him backwards, away from the rest of the crowd.

"You can try to deny me all you want, but I _will_ slaughter every last one of you!" Souji exclaimed.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that."

Souji turned around just in time to see Suguha Kirigaya, Kazuto's adoptive sister, attacking him with her shinai. Souji attempted to attack with wild knife swings, but Suguha easily countered every swing before striking back, eventually forcing Souji to back away.

"Now drop the knife before I'm forced to _actually_ hurt you," Suguha threatened.

"You wish!" Souji shouted. "You're just another lamb ripe for the slaughterhouse!"

Souji rushed forward, murderous intent flashing in his eyes, but Suguha wasn't impressed, jamming her shinai into Souji's chest and stopping him in his tracks, even causing him to double over in pain. Nick took advantage of this opportunity to swing his own weapon and carve another gash in Souji's arm.

Despite this, Nick had to scoff at the seemingly unholy amount of punishment Souji could take, immersed in his insanity as he was. _I guess nothing short of the killing blow is going to finish him off,_ Nick thought. _But that means I need to end this fight quickly, before any more innocent people get caught up in this._

So, of course, Souji decided to book it anyway, seeking out more victims to kill.

"Of _course_ he'd run away!" Nick exclaimed before turning to Shoko and the others. "Shoko, get these students somewhere safe. This looks like it's only going to get uglier."

"Roger that," Shoko replied, throwing Nick a mock-salute before herding her fellow students away from the area. "Okay, everyone, let's pick up the pace! Move _away_ from the crazy person! Move it, move it!"

While that was happening, Nick chased after Souji, hoping he could end this psycho soon enough.

Wait.

There it was again.

That strange song.

Something about flowing bubbles and a path to tomorrow...

Nick shook his head, hoping he wasn't going mad himself due to all the stress of the past few days. After glancing back to make sure no other trouble was coming his way (Souji _had_ mentioned a 'we' during his first rant, after all), Nick turned back to continue the chase...

...only to stop in his tracks when he saw a transparent figure just a few steps ahead of him.

She appeared to be no older than Yuuki, with shoulder-length brown hair and the same shade of dark brown eyes that Souji had.

"Um... okay, I'm not going crazy, am I?" Nick wondered.

"Please save him," the girl proclaimed. "He thinks I want vengeance, but he is wrong."

Suddenly, from that one innocuous comment, the pieces fell into place.

"Y-you're his sister," Nick replied. "Nanako, right?"

"You have to stop him," Nanako explained. "I didn't want him to become this. Please, do what you must."

Before Nick could get a word in edgewise, Nanako vanished, leaving Nick to ponder his thoughts for a second before resuming his pursuit of Souji.

By the time he'd caught up to Souji, he was attempting to attack another student, one Nick recognized as Klein, another SAO survivor from Kazuto's circle of friends. Thankfully, Klein was easily dodging the knife swings, as Souji's swings were getting wild and more lopsided as time passed, no doubt due to Souji losing himself to his madness.

 _That settles it,_ Nick thought. _I_ _ **really**_ _need to end this._

"Death! You all deserve death!" Souji cackled, actually managing to clip Klein on the shoulder with one of his swings, only for Klein to take advantage of a moment of weakness and drive his knee into Souji's stomach, forcing the psychopath to stumble back and catch his breath, giving Klein enough time to spin Souji around and then sweep kick him off of his feet.

Nick continued the attack by slashing his knife across Souji's back again, slicing through the earlier gash he'd made and feeling satisfied when Souji growled in pain, meaning he'd finally done some meaningful damage.

"You are _really_ starting to grate on my last nerve, boy," Souji growled.

"Would you listen to yourself, Souji?" Nick shot back. "You don't even sound human anymore. You just look like someone who's willingly sold their soul to the darkness. And that means I have to put you out of your misery."

"Oh, don't think you can actually win," Souji laughed.

"And there's another thing," Nick growled. " _Stop acting like you're invincible_! It's REALLY pissing me off!"

"Think about it," Souji proclaimed. "All the times you've landed a blow on me, and I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"I'll agree with you on that," Nick taunted, flipping his own knife into the air before catching it and hefting it threateningly towards Souji. "My mistake was not going for the killing blow at the start."

"It's pointless, boy!" Souji cackled. "You may as well accept the fact that you're not going to walk out of this alive. And once I'm done with you, maybe I'll pay a... _visit_ to that girl who's stuck in the hospital."

Nick's right hand clenched tightly around the handle of his knife. "If you _even_..."

"What, did I touch a nerve, boy?" Souji laughed. "You know it's going to happen, regardless of your personal feelings. Oh, the things I'm going to do to her..."

Suddenly, Souji felt a searing pain cut across his right cheek, looking up just in time to see Nick slash his knife across his face.

"Don't you _DARE_ lay a _finger_ on Yuuki, you goddamn _monster!_ " Nick growled, spinning around to slash at the left side of Souji's face as well, leaving twin scars where he'd attacked.

"You... you BASTARD!" Souji bellowed, rushing forward to grapple with Nick for a few seconds.

"There. Now they match," Nick proclaimed before raising his left foot and kicking Souji through the nearby door, both combatants finding them in an empty classroom. No doubt most of the school had already been evacuated when word of Souji's madness began to spread.

"Wouldn't it be a sight to see, though?" Souji proclaimed even as he continued to defend himself from Nick's furious attacks. "Just the sight of her terror as I carve my blade into her delicate, _precious_ skin?"

Nick had finally had enough, jumping over another knife strike to deliver a flying spin kick to Souji's head, much like Keiko had done earlier. The force of the kick actually caused Souji to reel, allowing Nick to move in for the finishing blow.

However, Souji recovered quickly and pounced on Nick, sending them rolling back out of the classroom and into the hallways, where many students were still trying to find a place to flee to.

"Give it up, you little punk!" Souji laughed, pinning Nick's arms to the ground. "Just give in and accept the fact that you're going to die here!"

Nick struggled to escape from Souji's grip, but the psycho was just too damn strong. Souji took his own knife and slashed it across Nick's arm, delighting in the cry of pain.

"And... just accept that your precious girlfriend will be joining you in hell soon enough," Souji cackled, causing Nick's blood to start boiling.

"Not today, jerkoff!"

Souji was momentarily distracted by the new voice, just in time for Katelyn to rush in and slash Souji across the back with a knife she'd acquired from the cafeteria, loosening his grip on Nick enough for Nick to retake control and push Souji away so he could regain his own footing.

"You're not touching Yuuki as long as I still breathe," Katelyn proclaimed, landing another slash on Souji's back, which she noted had taken quite a few knife attacks already today. "Nick, finish him off!"

"Already on it," Nick replied, dashing towards Souji and raising his knife.

Souji attempted to retaliate, but Katelyn put a stop to that by basically jamming the blade of her knife into Souji's back, right in the center of all the scars he'd already taken. This caused Souji to howl in agony, giving Nick the precious few seconds he needed to close the distance and deliver the killing blow, a precise but fierce cut across Souji's throat, exactly what Souji had done to Nick's mother.

Nick took a sort of grim satisfaction in watching Souji clutch at his throat in a futile attempt to stave off his own death.

"There. Poetic justice, you monster," Nick proclaimed.

Souji attempted to reach for his knife again, even in his death throes, only to see an image of Nanako beckoning him to her.

 _N-Nanako?_ Souji thought. _Is... is that you?_

 _Come to me, big brother,_ Nanako responded. _You don't have to carry all this pain any longer. Just let it go, and we can finally be together again._

 _Y-yes... that's all I've wanted... I wanted so badly to be with you again, even if only in death..._

To Souji, Nanako began to sing. It was a song she had often sung to calm his nerves back in Sword Art Online. After what seemed like forever, Souji's mind was finally clear.

 _I'm coming, Nanako. Please wait for me._

The last of Souji's life faded away, and he fell flat on his face, stone cold and unmoving.

With the stress of the long battle finally catching up to him, Nick fell to his knees and dropped his knife, only for Katelyn to catch him in an embrace.

 _Mom? Dad? I did it. I avenged the both of you. Now you can finally rest in peace,_ Nick thought.

Nick didn't hear anything, not the relief of the watching students at Souji's defeat, not the attempts of the police officers to restore order and investigate the chaos, not Shoko calling his name from afar.

Nick was still letting his deeds today sink in. For the first time in his life, he'd killed a person. This was nothing like ALfheim Online, where he regularly dueled players that were a bit too big for their britches and simply watched them explode into glowing polygons for them to respawn soon after.

Souji was dead. He'd killed him by cutting his throat, just as Souji had done to Nick's mother not too long ago.

Nick found some relief in the mindset that he wasn't a killer, and that he'd only killed Souji to both avenge his parents and prevent him from killing any more innocents. And the officer he'd explained everything to agreed with him in that regard, that he'd only acted in self-defense to protect the students of the SAO Survivors Academy, and that there had been no other choice, as Souji would not accept any other alternative.

And considering Katelyn was whispering softly to him that he wasn't a killer just because of what had happened, she knew what he was thinking as well.

 _Thank you for freeing him,_ the voice of Nanako resounded in Nick's mind.

 _I did what I had to do,_ Nick thought. _I hope he'll do better with you than he did in this world._

And as Nanako's presence faded from his mind, Nick looked up to see both Katelyn and Shoko smiling at him, Shoko having wrapped Nick's wound while he wasn't paying attention.

"We should probably get you back to the hospital before Yuuki worries her head off," Shoko teased. "We did promise we'd bring you back safe and sound, after all."

"Yeah, I _really_ want to hug her after what Souji freakin' said..." Nick sighed.

As Katelyn and Shoko helped him to his feet, Nick cast one last glance at Souji's lifeless body. Despite everything Souji had done, he'd only been hurting due to the loss of a loved one, something Nick could definitely understand.

He'd thought of something during the fight. He'd realized that, due to the loss of loved ones, Nick may well have fallen into the darkness like Souji had without the support of his friends, the people who loved him.

As he walked away, Nick said a final prayer to whatever gods may have been listening to have mercy on Souji's soul. Souji's decisions may have all been of his own choosing, but Nick would never wish the pain of losing a loved one on _anyone_ , not even his worst enemy.

That was a pain no one should have to suffer from.

* * *

Yuuki paced around the room yet again, as she had been doing over and over and over for the last five minutes, her mind abuzz with worry about what Phantom may have done while she couldn't be there to help.

"Is everything okay, Yuuki?" Kurahashi asked, having just entered the room and noticed Yuuki's expression. "You seem pretty tense."

"Phantom went and attacked the SAO Survivors Academy," Yuuki replied. "And I wanted to go and help if I could, if only to keep Asuna and her friends out of harm's way... but I've already left the hospital on my own twice now. I didn't think you guys would let me do it a _third_ time."

"Is _that_ why Nick ran off earlier?" Kurahashi wondered.

"Yeah, Nick and Katie went there to head him off," Yuuki stated. "And I'm so worried about them, doc. I don't know what's happening over there, and that's _really_ driving me up the wall..."

Before Kurahashi could respond to that, the room's door once again pushed itself open to reveal Nick standing there, flanked by Katelyn and Shoko. Nick had a wrapped up wound on his shoulder but was otherwise unharmed.

"N-Nick! You're okay!" Yuuki exclaimed, rushing up to hug Nick, only to be surprised when Nick threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly, almost as if he was afraid that letting her go meant losing her forever. "Wow, Nick, you actually did what _I_ wanted to do..."

"Yuuki, I was so scared," Nick gasped. "Phantom said some things that just... just got me _enraged_... he said he was going to come after you if he escaped from the school, and I was frightened that I wouldn't make it to you in time if he did..."

Yuuki just smiled, kissing Nick on the forehead. "Hey, I wouldn't let him try anything with me. I'd probably kick his face in if he did that. _I_ was the one who was worried about _you_ , Nick. I had no idea what was happening out there. I was so scared that Phantom was going to kill you. He's a psycho, after all..."

"Well, he _was_ ," Katelyn quipped. "Nick finished him off."

"Wait, you killed him?" Yuuki gasped. She was surprised to see Nick start stammering, almost as if thinking she would be angry with his decision.

"Yep," Shoko replied. "Cut his throat. Sorry if that's making you uncomfortable, Yuuki, but that's exactly what happened."

Yuuki glanced back at Nick, who was still having an internal freakout.

"Nick," Yuuki proclaimed, letting go of Nick only to put her hands on his face and stare into his eyes. "Look into my eyes for a second. Do I _look_ angry or hurt about it?"

"N-No, but... Yuuki, I don't know if this is sinking in," Nick gasped. "I didn't just take out all of his health like in ALO or GGO. _I actually killed a person today._ "

"But you did it to protect everyone there," Katelyn cut in. "You did it to avenge your parents, made it so he can never harm another innocent soul again."

"And remember, he clearly wasn't giving you any alternative," Shoko continued. "Some nuts just can't be reasoned with. Yes, I know we all wish things could turn out differently, or that we could have done better."

"Yeah, that's what you said to Sinon, right?" Yuuki replied. "Gotta make the most of your choices, right?"

Nick didn't look completely convinced, and, in all honesty, Yuuki couldn't blame him for that. She knew that unless she said something right here and now, Nick would most likely keep dwelling on the fact that he'd killed someone, even if he'd only killed someone who absolutely had it coming.

"Yuuki, I'm sorry if I'm freaking out, but..."

Yuuki decided that was enough and yanked Nick closer, kissing him as passionately as she possibly could, hoping this would get to him.

After a couple seconds, mostly due to surprise, Nick returned the kiss in kind.

"Listen to me, okay, Nick?" Yuuki stated once they separated from needing to breathe. "I know you're going through a lot of stress because of what happened, but I want to clearly repeat what I'm sure Katie and Shoko have already said to you. _You're not a killer_. You may have killed Phantom, but after what he's done, there was clearly no hope for him. Sometimes you've gotta do what you've gotta do, and this was no exception. Like Shoko said, not everybody can be reasoned with."

"I... I'm just scared, Yuuki," Nick admitted. "I'm really scared that I could have turned out just as bad as him because of what I lost."

"But you didn't," Yuuki replied. "Because you have us. You have your friends. And... you've got me, too."

Katelyn and Shoko walked over to join in the group hug. "She's right, Nick," Katelyn stated. "Remember what I told you the other night? We'll gladly chase off the nightmares when you can't do it on your own."

"And if you ever _do_ fall into the darkness, we'll yank you right back out," Shoko continued. "As many times as we have to."

"You were a light for me when things didn't look their best, Nick," Yuuki finished, smiling radiantly. "And I wanna be that light for _you_ when you need it. That's what I promised, right?"

Nick couldn't hold his emotions in any longer, and allowed his tears to fall as the three girls held him close.

Nick finally settled down and just basked in the warmth of his best friends and girlfriend, happy that it was finally over.

* * *

"Holy crap, they have a coliseum here in GGO, too?!" Nick exclaimed once he was allowed to open his eyes and see what Hanmyo had wanted him to see, specifically the large coliseum that had been built near the outer right edge of SBC Glocken.

It had been three days since the attack on the SAO Survivors Academy and the death of Souji, and Nick and Yuuki's circle of friends were exploring SBC Glocken to see the sights, considering they hadn't gotten to spend much time exploring it their first time in GGO due to Phantom's machinations.

"Yep, it's actually been around for a while, but since you're mostly new to GGO, it's something Zaskar added for everyone after the first Squad Jam tournament," Hanmyo explained. "Like the one in ALO, it's kind of, well, part training ground for players, part tournament spot."

"I'm willing to guess that Zaskar wanted to give players a proper place to practice for the Squad Jam and the BoB," Sinon stated.

"Oh, oh, can we participate in the next Squad Jam?" Yuuki asked, already excited about the prospect. "I'd much rather fight alongside all of my best friends than have to go up against them, even if it's just a game."

"Sounds like a plan to me, Yuuki," Nick quipped. After hearing about the Squad Jam from idle chatter amongst other GGO players, he'd worked it out to be similar in effect to the Bullet of Bullets. The main difference, it seemed, was that while the BoB was a free-for-all battle royale, the Squad Jam was more of a team-based tournament.

"Hey, did I hear you guys want to join the next Squad Jam?"

Nick turned around and noticed that someone had noticed them. She was only about five feet tall, had a slender avatar with a slightly rounded face, big pupils and somewhat tawny, dark hair in a boyish short cut. Her combat uniform consisted of combat trousers that resemble cargo pants and a long-sleeved combat shirt, along with long and narrow pouches equipped on both sides of her thighs, high-laced short boots and a knit cap. The interesting thing about her appearance was that the majority of her attire was dyed pink with a small tint of brown.

"I've been in the past two, so I know my stuff!" the girl giggled. "Oh, wait, manners! Name's LLENN!"

"Nice to meet you, LLENN!" Yuuki proclaimed. "My name's Yuuki."

"Wait, Yuuki as in Absolute Sword Yuuki?!" LLENN exclaimed. "Oh, man, you're a _legend_ in ALO! I can't believe you're actually playing GGO, too!"

"Well, my boyfriend wanted to know if I'd like to give it a shot," Yuuki admitted. "And while we were thinking of getting back to ALO soon, we figured we'd try out this thing."

LLENN proudly hefted her weapon, P-chan, a P90 sub-machine gun (even the _gun_ was pink, Nick noted) and cocked it. "You wanna take me on, Yuuki?" LLENN asked. "I figure it'd be good practice for the Squad Jam, going against someone who's been in two of them."

"Sounds good, LLENN! Let's do it!" Yuuki laughed, sending LLENN a duel request.

Once the countdown had expired and the battle began, LLENN immediately began zipping around the arena, showing speed that surprised even Yuuki at times.

Still, Yuuki kept hands on both her Sig Sauer and her Kagemitsu, ready to whip either out at a moment's notice.

Sure enough, after emerging from a nearby dune, LLENN started firing at Yuuki, who went to work with her Kagemitsu and cut as many bullets as she could out of the air.

The participants were so focused on their battle that they didn't notice the odd figure watching them from the very edge of the arena, observing the battle between Yuuki and LLENN and the people that were watching it.

The figure nodded to himself after confirming his suspicions and reached up to tap the communication device he wore on his head. After a couple seconds of static, a voice replied from the other end.

" _Report, Thanatos. What do you have to say?"_

"Nice to see you, too, Arsene," the figure groaned. He was _always_ like this, using these stupid code names. Why couldn't they just used their real names instead?

Oh, right. Their mission.

"I'm observing the players you wanted me to," Thanatos, as he was called, replied. "The boy watching the Zekken fight the little pink bunny is apparently the one who killed Izanagi. Do you want me to do anything about that?"

" _No,"_ Arsene responded. _"We're not like Izanagi. We have our own priorities to take care of. You know what's at stake with this."_

"Yes, I do, but I really wish Izanagi was still here so he could see what we're trying to do," Thanatos proclaimed. "He's the whole reason we're even doing this, and now he's dead."

" _We've come too far to stop now,"_ Arsene stated. _"We move forward with the plan."_

"And what of the boy?"

" _Leave him for now. He won't be of use to us until she's ready to return. Arsene out."_

Thanatos just shook his head. Did Arsene _really_ have to do it like _that_? There was chance it wouldn't even work right, after all. This was a very complicated and unstable process.

But... Thanatos had to admit, the only reason he'd agreed to help with this was because...

...he'd wanted to see her again.

As the battle between Yuuki and LLENN continued, Thanatos simply walked out of the coliseum, thinking about the hope he still held of seeing his precious Nanako again.

 _To be continued..._

* * *

On the next episode...

Yuuki: Okay, I think it's time we got back to ALfheim Online. The floor thirty-two labyrinth raid is soon, after all!

Nick: And don't think this is the end of our time in GGO, loyal fans. We _are_ going to be participating in the third Squad Jam later down the road! But first, we might need a heater for this icebox of a labyrinth.

Hanmyo: You're telling me! Holy CRAP, it is cold as _hell_ in here!

Katelyn: And can I please strangle the demented genius who thought of implementing _ICE PHYSICS_ into this labyrinth?! I HATE ICE PHYSICS SO MUCH!

Nick: You would hate some old school games, then. I _despise_ ice physics myself, but we're probably going to have to tough it out until we get to the boss.

Katelyn: Ooh, if the boss room still has ice physics, I'm going to stab something...

Yuuki: You and me both, Katie.

Nick: Next time on _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:_ , "From Out of Nowhere"!

Nick, Yuuki, Katelyn, and Hanmyo: This may be a game, but it's not something you play!


	9. From Out of Nowhere

Nick couldn't help but chuckle as Yuuki made a snow angel in the drifts just outside the city of Blizzalia. It was just the childlike look of glee and wonder that Yuuki held that got to Nick, as Yuuki had said this was one of the things she'd never really gotten to do as a kid due to her condition.

If he was being honest, Nick was just happy that Yuuki was happy. They'd been through many intense moments these past few days, and with Souji finally gone, they were ready to return to ALfheim Online and resume their adventure through New Aincrad.

In the days they'd been gone from ALO, the raid party had found the floor thirty-two labyrinth, and were preparing to explore it and defeat the boss.

Nick was kinda glad things were getting more routine again after everything that had happened over the course of the past couple months.

 _Mom? Dad?_ Nick thought as he watched Yuuki continue to make snow angels. _You'll be happy to know that I'm doing all right. I miss you, every single day. But with Yuuki by my side, I think I'll be okay. Rest in peace, and I'll see you again someday, got it?_

Nick was brought out of his reverie when a large snowball beaned him in the back of the head, sending him crashing into a rather hefty snowdrift.

"Okay, who did that?!" Nick proclaimed, wrenching his head out of the drift just in time to be whacked in the face with another snowball.

"Should have paid attention, doof!" Hanmyo exclaimed, trying to hide her wide smile and failing miserably.

"Why, you little..." Nick growled as he advanced, only to be pelted with a barrage of snowballs from Katelyn, who was simply scooping handfuls of snow and launching them rapid fire.

"Gotta keep up, silly!" Katelyn laughed.

"Katie, you too?!" Nick exclaimed. "Next thing I know, Yuuki's gonna start throwing them..."

And sure enough, she did, but to Nick's surprise, Yuuki managed to lift a huge pile of snow and throw it at Katelyn, who was too surprised to dodge in time and ended up buried halfway under the thrown pile of snow.

"Hey, that's what you get for attacking my boyfriend willy-nilly like that!" Yuuki proclaimed, scooping another snowball to prepare herself for battle. "I hope you're ready to reap what you sow!"

"Oh, I'm more than ready," Hanmyo taunted. "I'm not scared of you!"

"Bring it on, Snowy!" Katelyn shouted, removing herself from the pile and flailing snowballs all over.

It quickly turned into a fierce two-on-two snowball fight, but all four competitors were happy, not a care in the world between them.

It was a nice thing, especially after all the madness.

* * *

(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)

 **The Blue Time Ranger** is proud to present...  
 _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:  
_ **Story Created:** January 24th, 2018  
 **Story Rated:** T for Teen

 **Story Summary:** What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?

 **On Today's Episode:** With Souji finally put down, life is getting back to as normal as it gets for Nick and Yuuki. After a few days of trying out Gun Gale Online, Nick and Yuuki have returned to ALfheim Online just in time to prepare for the raid on the floor thirty-two labyrinth. A fortress of ice and slipperiness awaits our intrepid raid party, along with a very interesting boss battle at the end. But who are these two players who call themselves Thanatos and Arsene, and what are they working on behind the scenes?

 **And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I _did_ own Sword Art Online, which I _don't_ , why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

* * *

Episode 9: From Out of Nowhere

"Ah, that was fun," Yuuki gasped as the four of them made their way back towards the city limits, where the raid party was currently discussing ways to attack the labyrinth. "I never thought getting pelted by snowballs could be so much fun."

"Hey, who was the one who stuffed that pile of snow down the back of my parka?" Hanmyo teased. "I swear I was going to get frostbite from how cold it was!"

"Can that even happen in this game?" Katelyn quipped. "Besides, who used me as a human shield against that giant _boulder_ that Nick threw?!"

"I honestly thought it was going to hit the both of you," Nick admitted.

"Then Katie _pushed_ me into its path!" Hanmyo proclaimed, trying to sound angry, but it was obvious she was grinning like an idiot. "How do you think that made me feel?!"

The four players just stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting into uncontrollable laughter.

"Ooh, man, we _definitely_ needed that," Hanmyo giggled.

"It felt good to just unwind like that," Katelyn admitted. "Especially after everything _we've_ been through."

"So, what do you say, all? Are we ready for this next big boss fight?" Yuuki proclaimed.

"I say bring it on!" Hanmyo shouted as they approached the raid party, still deep in discussion about how to approach the labyrinth. "We've fought through hell and back, so we can handle a measly dungeon crawl!"

"I love how Hanmyo's so gung-ho about this one in particular," Yuuki giggled.

"Yeah, she's been itching to get back to action after we took down Souji," Nick explained. "Classes at the academy must have been ramping up pretty quickly."

As they sat down with the raid party, far away from the city limits, two players were trudging through the deep snow across the fields.

"Ugh, Arsene, why did you drag me out here?" Thanatos groaned. "You know it's cold as balls out here."

"Oh, relax, it's just a game," Arsene proclaimed, lazily kicking at a snowdrift. "Besides, you should know why I called you here, Thanatos."

"Okay. First, Akira, stop calling me Thanatos. You know my real name is Makoto, and it's getting annoying that you keep using those idiotic codenames," Makoto responded. "Second, how many more memories do you need to extract?"

"Only a few more," Akira admitted. "Then we can begin phase three."

"And you're _sure_ this will work?" Makoto asked.

"What do you think I've been _doing_ non-stop for the past two years, ever since we escaped that damned game?" Akira quipped. "I've been making _damn_ sure that this is going to work. I've checked every possibility, recorded every error made so it won't happen again, and simply spent two years perfecting this. Are you seriously doubting my skills now, of all times?"

"Of course not," Makoto immediately countered. "...I just want her back so much. You know how much I loved her, and yet I never got to tell her before she died..."

"Then let's finish this project of ours, and then you can tell her exactly how you feel," Akira replied. "It won't be much longer, anyway. Once we finish the fourth and final phase, Nanako will return to the world of the living."

Akira didn't wait for Makoto to respond, dashing off to the nearby area to continue his search.

"What's he talking about?" a voice near Makoto asked.

Makoto reached up to tap his head twice, and a figure appeared before him in a flash of light.

"Nothing," Makoto admitted. "You know how he likes to ramble on, Nanako. You've known that for a while, right?"

"Yeah," Nanako giggled. "He's always been the talker of our group."

Makoto couldn't help but laugh, despite knowing the truth deep down. _This is wrong, I know it is. So why can't I put my foot down?_

"Now, how about we go do some power-leveling in the caverns?" Makoto offered. "We're gonna need to stay in tip-top shape for the labyrinth raid, right?"

"No kidding," Nanako proclaimed as she and Makoto unfolded their wings and took off for the caverns at the outskirts of the city.

As the raid party approached the entrance to the labyrinth, many of the players suddenly noticed that it was getting a lot colder the closer they got to the entrance, as if mother nature was trying to force them to back away.

"Holy crap, why is it so cold all of a sudden?" a Salamander stammered. "This cold's not good for fire guys like us!"

"Maybe it's whatever _that_ is?" Katelyn quipped, pointing just ahead towards what seemed to be the source of the rapid chills, a humanoid figure made completely of ice who was waving its hands and unleashing a blast of arctic wind as the raid party drew closer.

"A Field Boss?" Yuuki wondered.

"That's what it seems like," Nick stated.

Upon inching a little closer, Nick could finally see the boss' information, the name above its health bar reading Leiptr the Unbreakable.

"That's one of the stranger field bosses I've ever seen," Hanmyo admitted.

"At least it's not another damn dragon," Nick proclaimed. "I've had enough of those things."

Leiptr took notice of Nick's approach, drawing a sword made completely of ice and charging towards him.

"Okay, en garde then!" Nick exclaimed, unsheathing his Element Saber and switching its affinity to fire just in time to meet Leiptr's swing head-on.

As Nick began to fight Leiptr with assistance from some of the spellcasters, Katelyn moved in to flank Leiptr, readying her swords to cut the boss down.

"Nick? Any clue why this guy only has one health bar?" Katelyn wondered as she started hacking away at Leiptr's back while Nick attacked from the front, their attacks slowly chipping away at Leiptr's health bar. "All the other field bosses had at least two."

Nick attacked with a Horizontal Square, only to see that despite using the boss' obvious elemental weakness, he hadn't done much damage at all. "Maybe that's why. It seems like it's got a metric crapton of defense," Nick quipped as he jumped away to avoid an overhead slash from Leiptr.

"Maybe you need to use something that can pierce defenses," Katelyn offered. "It might be the only way we're getting anywhere quickly."

Nick smiled as he figured out what Katelyn was trying to say to him. After juking to avoid another swing from Leiptr's frosty blade, Nick immediately moved in and started attacking with a savage flurry of sword strikes.

A left-horizontal spiral slash, a right-horizontal flourish, a vertical uppercut, a downward spike, four left-to-right-to-left slashes, a diagonal uppercut, and a downward chop, Element Saber's blade leaving trails of fire and orange light with each movement Nick made.

An outward stab, a right-hand slice, two diagonal slashes in an X formation, a quick slap with the flat of the blade, and finally, Nick gripped his weapon tightly, leaping into the air and slicing downward with all the force of a crashing airliner, the flaming blade carving a large crack in Leiptr's chest. Nick was happy to see that Ars Arcanum had actually put a sizable dent in Leiptr's health.

"My turn!" Katelyn shouted, beginning her attack by thrusting her swords forward together, then slashing them both outwards, then performing a backwards somersault and slashing inwards with both blades, creating an X shape similar to Mother's Rosario.

Katelyn then took her left sword and traced a half-circle to the left, then did the same with the right sword, creating a light circle around the X.

For the final blow, Katelyn rushed Leiptr, slashing with both blades so forcefully that she shattered the image she'd created with her earlier sword strikes and cleaved two large lines through Leiptr, finally ending up on the other side of the boss with her swords down as the damage registered, knocking Leiptr to the ground.

"I'll tag in now," Hanmyo proclaimed. "Kemi! Mata! Let's end this!"

Kemi and Mata responded by roaring loudly as Hanmyo charged towards Leiptr, slashing horizontally, vertically, diagonally left, diagonally right, slanted upwards, slanted downwards, and overhead with her daggers before leaping back to where Kemi and Mata were standing. Once their roars were completed, four elemental daggers exploded to life around Hanmyo.

"Now you _die_!" Hanmyo challenged as she leapt back into the fray, slashing her daggers like crazy. While she did this, the four elemental daggers began flying around Leiptr and attacking on their own. This combination made it look like Hanmyo had become a furious maelstrom of blades and slashes with how fast she was striking with her twin daggers.

Finally, Hanmyo performed an uppercut slash to send Leiptr into the air, followed by her leaping backwards and Kemi and Mata rushing under her to catch her. When Hanmyo landed on Kemi and Mata's backs, she used the momentum to propel herself high into the air, even as Kemi and Mata jumped after her.

Hanmyo prepared her daggers, joining them together to form a great dagger of light in her hands as she shot down towards the prone form of Leiptr with Kemi and Mata beside her.

"This... is the final strike!" Hanmyo exclaimed as she drove the dagger of light downwards, straight into Leiptr's head, driving it back into the snowdrifts with only a small fraction of its health remaining.

"All right, say goodnight, ice breath!" Nick exclaimed, raising Element Saber for the final strike, only for Leiptr to quickly regain its footing and buffet Nick with a wave of arctic cold, instantly freezing him where he stood.

Naturally, Yuuki didn't take this well, and moved in to finish the job herself. Leiptr tried the same trick, only for Yuuki to take to the skies with her wings and divebomb Leiptr with a flying slash.

"You're gonna wish you never did that, freeze freak!" Yuuki proclaimed, readying her weapon and stabbing outwards five times, creating a horizontal line down Leiptr's chest. Yuuki spun around and stabbed out five more times, creating another line going the opposite way, both lines forming a sort of X. Finally, Yuuki reared back and thrust her sword forward with a loud battle cry, driving the point of her blade straight into the center of the X she'd formed with her earlier sword stabs. Purple light exploded from Leiptr's wounds upon impact, and its health bar drained completely when the damage fully registered.

Leiptr keeled over rather quickly, falling onto its back and dropping its sword as its body shattered first into ice shards, then a burst of glowing polygons, also causing the door to the labyrinth to open.

"Victory!" Yuuki proclaimed, flashing a victory sign as the raid party moved ahead to the labyrinth. "H-Hey! Aren't you even going to wait for me?!"

Nick finally managed to break out of his freeze and walked up to Yuuki. "They're impatient," Nick quipped. "Some of them just want to get out of this icebox, even though I'm _pretty_ sure the labyrinth's not gonna be any better."

Once Nick was ready, he and Yuuki followed everybody else into the labyrinth, which, true to Nick's theory, was a large temple-like structure filled with all kinds of sculptures made from the very ice that coated almost every surface around them.

Katelyn attempted to balance herself on the ice coating the floor, only to slip multiple times, eventually falling flat on her behind. Nick quickly skated over to help her back to her feet.

"You okay, Katie?" Nick asked.

"I swear to all that is holy, I'm going to murder the programmer or level designer that had the oh-so-brilliant idea of, 'hey, this is the _ice_ level, so how about we coat everything in _ice_ and, oh, how about this, let's implement _ICE PHYSICS_ into it'. _I FREAKING HATE ICE PHYSICS IN VIDEO GAMES!_ " Katelyn exclaimed, her voice echoing off of the icy walls.

"Ehehehe, you're not the only one, Katie," Hanmyo replied.

"Oh, don't you start! _You_ get to ride Kemi and Mata, and I'm sure _they_ don't suffer from ice physics!" Katelyn exclaimed.

"Well, duh, they have built-in skates on their paws," Hanmyo laughed as she briefly leapt off of Kemi's back to attack the monster that was approaching them, a medium-sized scorpion-like creature made entirely of ice, just like Leiptr had been. "That kinda naturally helps with traction."

"They could at least have the courtesy to give us some freakin' ice skates or something!" Katelyn shot back, slicing through another ice monster with a Final Revolution, only to be sent sliding across the room due to her momentum. "I've never been good with ice in real life or in games, and the fact that both are kinda combined here DOESN'T HELP!"

"Holy cow, she really must not like ice physics," Yuuki giggled as she cut down another ice monster with an overhead chop from her own sword.

"Katie and I liked to play a bunch of old-school platformers back in our youth," Nick explained as he swung Element Saber to slice through a large snow boulder that an ice golem monster had just chucked at him. "The ice physics in some of those levels were just as bad. I mean, come on, the N. Sane Trilogy version of Crash Bandicoot 2 just made the ice physics of that game _worse_ , in my opinion!"

"I guess ice physics will always be a burn on games like this, huh?" Yuuki laughed. _And I just noticed the irony in what I said,_ Yuuki thought.

It took five days to complete the entire labyrinth, and Nick was hoping they'd get this adventure over with today, since he and the girls had planned to take the weekend off from ALO and jump back to GGO to participate in the Squad Jam tournament.

Thankfully, all that remained was the boss fight, and Nick was ready to take on another powerful enemy.

"Well, shall we get this started, everyone?" the raid leader, this time an Undine, proclaimed as he walked over to open the gateway to the boss room.

"I swear, if there's ice on the floor here, I'm going to stab someone," Katelyn growled. "I am _so done_ with these ice physics..."

Thankfully, though ice still covered the walls and ceilings of the boss arena, the floor was just typical stone. A gigantic stalactite hung from the very top of the arena, and every player could see that something was trapped in the stalactite, ready to burst out at a moment's notice.

"I'm willing to hazard a guess that the boss is in there?" Nick quipped.

"This may sound odd to you guys, but I don't think it's gonna come out unless we melt the ice surrounding it," Hanmyo admitted.

Sure enough, a few spellcasters went to work, flinging fire spells at the stalactite until it melted away to reveal the floor thirty-two boss, a large golem head made of icy glass, with two disconnected hands that sported sharp ice spikes on its knuckles.

Nick and Yuuki were the only ones to notice that there was a large crack on the left side of the giant head, almost as if the golem head was actually concealing something that was trying to escape from within.

Four health bars extended around its head and also revealed the name of the boss.

Hildisvini, the Captive Prince.

"All right, _charge_!" Katelyn exclaimed, rushing in alongside Yuuki and a few other players to attack Hildisvini even as it brought its hands back for an attack.

Yuuki was on the bead, however, weaving to the right and firing off her Ethereal Blades to stop the right hand in its place so Katelyn wouldn't get smashed by the incoming fist attack.

Katelyn immediately went to work on the hand while Nick moved in to attack the main golem head, switching Element Saber's affinity to fire to deal some extra damage.

Meanwhile, the spellcasters continued to fling fire spells at the boss even when it floated higher into the air to avoid the frontline damage dealers.

"Okay, have I mentioned how there are times that I hate not being able to fly in dungeons?" Katelyn quipped. "This is _definitely_ one of them!"

Not one to be deterred, Katelyn decided to back off and use her newest dual-wielding sword skill, Strike Raid, where she tossed her swords like boomerangs towards Hildisvini's hands, and when they hit, they came flying back to Katelyn so she could throw them again from a different angle.

As Hildisvini floated back down to ground level, Nick moved in to attack the head, being joined by Yuuki this time.

"Hey, Nick?" Yuuki asked. "Do you think we'd do more damage if we attacked that crack on its face?"

"You must be reading my mind, Yuuki, because I was about to suggest the exact same thing," Nick laughed.

With that, the two of them dashed over to the left side of Hildisvini's face, where the crack in its icy surface could be seen clear as day.

"Pour it on!" Nick shouted as he and Yuuki went to work, slashing at the crack with all they could muster and watching as Hildisvini's health dropped rather rapidly with each strike they landed.

After a few more minutes of this pattern, Hildisvini's first health bar emptied, and Nick and Yuuki retreated to where the rest of the raid party stood to prepare for the boss' next phase.

Then, something very strange happened.

Hildisvini collapsed to the ground, its fists crashing into the pillars on the opposite sides of the arena, and, strangest of all, its three remaining health bars drained to nothing.

"Um... did... did we win?" a Spriggan asked.

"If we did, that was seriously the lamest floor boss ever," a Cait Sith proclaimed, keeping his weapon ready just in case.

And sure enough, Hildisvini began to shake, its head rumbling and seeming to break apart bit by bit. The hands shattered into ice shards that quickly melted, and the head abruptly exploded to reveal a gargantuan dragon with silver skin and scales. Three health bars appeared over it, revealing its name.

Muninn, the Silver Emperor.

"That _bastard_ ," Hanmyo cursed, readying her daggers. "It was hiding in that golem shell!"

"Oh, I don't think so!" Nick proclaimed, already on the attack. _"YOU'RE NOT MAKING A MOCKERY OF ME THIS TIME, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"_

Muninn simply roared before landing hard on the ground, the impact cracking and shattering the stone floor under everyone to reveal nothing but what seemed to be a bottomless pit.

Yuuki curled up, bracing herself for the inevitable impact.

Only... she wasn't falling.

Yuuki chanced a glance behind her and saw that her Imp wings had unfolded to keep her afloat.

Indeed, every player's wings had unfurled and were keeping them from falling down into the endless pit. For Kemi and Mata, almost invisible surges of energy were keeping them aloft.

"Hey, are we flying?!" the raid leader gasped. "I thought that wasn't possible in dungeons!"

"They probably enabled it for this boss fight because there's no floor now," Katelyn quipped. "Oh, wow, did they actually hear my complaints?"

"Okay, everyone, there'll be time to pontificate later! Dragon boy's coming right for us!" Hanmyo exclaimed as Muninn flew towards the raid party.

"Yeah, I don't think so," Yuuki taunted, magical runes surrounding her body. _"Dimensional Abyss!"_

Yuuki smiled, opening her palms wide and unleashing a large sphere of dark energy for the charging Muninn. Upon reaching Muninn, the sphere expanded into what could only be described as a localized black hole that stopped Muninn in its tracks and slowly damaged him, the attack persisting for about fifteen seconds before fading away.

Nick took this time to switch Element Saber's affinity to Earth, since he knew for a fact that Muninn wasn't an ice creature and therefore didn't have an obvious weakness to fire, and slashed three times at Muninn's underbelly, each successful hit causing vines to start growing where the strikes landed.

After backing off to avoid Muninn's razor claws, Nick dashed back in to deliver a fourth strike, this causing the vines to explode into thorns that ravaged Muninn's underbelly, forcing the silver dragon backwards.

"Hey, spell peeps! It's weak to Earth magic!" Nick exclaimed, and the spellcasters got the message, using spells like Sling Stone and Deathrock Cluster to chip away at Muninn's health from afar.

After a few more barrages, Muninn had had enough, roaring loudly before charging, doing a sort of shuttle loop for extra momentum before flying straight for the raid party, forcing them to scatter in different directions so they didn't get clipped by Muninn's sharp wings.

As Muninn turned itself around (thankfully slowly), Hanmyo flew towards its tail and attacked it with a Mirage Fang, happy to see she did much more damage than she'd expected.

"I think we found a weak point," Hanmyo giggled, moving in to attack again, this time with her newest sword skill, Razor Wind, where she extended her daggers and spun around rapidly, creating cutting circles of light around her that did further damage to Muninn.

Nick decided to continue the attack with an Earth-affinity Ars Arcanum, noticing how rose petals also trailed from his weapon with each swing, finally causing Muninn to roar in agony as its first health bar depleted.

"Okay, let's get ready for the next phase," Hanmyo proclaimed.

Nick barely had time to turn around as Muninn went back into its attack pattern, this time whipping its razor tail like a bullet, catching Nick across the shoulder and sending him straight through a nearby rock stalactite.

"All right, jerkoff, you're going to regret that!" Katelyn shouted, drawing both of her swords again and moving in to attack Muninn's underbelly a few times.

Muninn clearly didn't like that, rearing upwards to attack with a storm of ice shards, but Yuuki unleashed another Dimensional Abyss to swallow the ice shards up.

Muninn roared again, catching Nick and Katelyn's attention as it rushed them. Even though they raised their swords to block the attack, Muninn's wings still clipped them, doing a solid bit of damage.

Muninn attempted to charge them again, only to be stopped by a barrage of Yuuki's Ethereal Blades.

"Nice try, dragon breath," Yuuki giggled.

Thankfully, not much appeared to have changed with its second phase, and with everyone working together, it wasn't much longer before Muninn was taken down to its last health bar.

"Get ready, everyone!" Yuuki shouted as a silver energy aura surrounded Muninn's body, signaling the start of the final phase.

Muninn bellowed loudly, and ice spikes began to spawn above many of the players, forcing them to stay on the move so they wouldn't get skewered.

"Okay, this is getting stupid!" Hanmyo proclaimed. "Any ideas, Katie?"

Katelyn kept thinking, running numbers and estimations through her head.

"If you can get him to about half of his health, I think I can finish the job," Katelyn proclaimed.

"With what?" Nick asked. "What are you hiding, Katie?"

"Oh, you'll see," Katelyn giggled.

So, the battle continued, even as Muninn began to rage, doing shuttle loops through the air and knocking players into walls with its deafening screeches.

One lucky Undine scored a critical hit with a Holy Lance spell, dropping Muninn's health to just under half of its final bar.

"There! This one's all mine, guys!" Katelyn shouted, re-drawing both of her swords and flying under another claw strike to attack Muninn's underbelly with what appeared to be a very familiar skill.

Katelyn started with a left-to-right horizontal slash with the right sword, then an uppercut with the left sword. Katelyn then jumped up and slashed Muninn with both swords from left to right while spinning twice, then landing and slashing in an X formation from top to bottom, before doing it again from bottom to top. Katelyn then leaped at Muninn and made two diagonal slashes from the starting point, with the left sword heading from top to bottom to the left and the right sword heading from bottom to top toward the right.

Nick, Hanmyo, and Yuuki were already impressed, as were many of the other players in the raid party, but Katelyn wasn't done yet, as she flipped her swords to reverse-grip them and slash another X from top to bottom in Muninn's underbelly. After this, Katelyn did some kind of barrel roll attack, slashing at the underbelly like a corkscrew. This done, Katelyn once again slashed two X's into Muninn's underbelly, once from top to bottom, then bottom to top.

The attack continued as Katelyn made a diagonal slash with the right sword, top-right to bottom-left, then spun left and used her momentum to deal a horizontal, right-to-left slash with the left sword. The next few attacks were a blur to most of the players, but Katelyn made an uppercut with the right sword, then another with the left sword, a downward slash with the right sword, then a downward diagonal slash towards the right with the left sword, spun and repeated the previous attack, and thrust the right-handed sword out. Finally, Katelyn did a powerful downward lunge with the left sword, then finished the attack with an outward flourish with her right sword.

This was finally enough to drain Muninn's health completely, and the silver dragon let out a pained roar before slumping over, its eyes closing before it exploded into shards of light.

The floor that Muninn had smashed earlier reformed, allowing everyone to land safely and get their bearings.

"Holy crap, Katie, did you just use Kirito's supermove?" Nick gasped once the battle was finally over.

"Yep, that was Starburst Stream," Katelyn admitted as she equipped her new Adamantium Tunic, her reward for getting the Last Attack Bonus. "I figured, anyone who dual-wields swords could probably learn how to use it. And let me tell you, it was a _bitch and a half_ to learn, especially during my little episode. I literally spent _hours_ studying video footage of this one time I saw Kirito doing it in an arena battle so I could learn it myself. I guess it was all worth it in the end, huh?"

"No kidding," Yuuki giggled. "What a way to finish off mister dragon boy before Nick went bananas on it, huh?"

"I was _that_ close to just going ape on it, and then Katie stole the show," Nick quipped.

"Guess we can thank Kirito for inspiring you, huh, Katie?" Hanmyo stated.

"Nah, it's no big deal. Imitation _is_ the sincerest form of flattery, after all," Katelyn responded. "Besides, I think he's got enough girls fawning over him as it is. We definitely don't need _another_ misunderstanding, right?"

"No kidding," Nick laughed as they ran off to catch up with the raid party and move on to the next floor.

"Are they the ones?" Nanako asked Makoto as the raid party made their way to the teleport gate.

"Yeah. It's them," Makoto answered.

"You're... not gonna hurt them, are you?" Nanako wondered.

 _Damn that expression,_ Makoto thought. _It's like Akira knew how Nanako always made me blush._ "No, Nanako, I won't need to hurt them to get what I need," Makoto replied. "Despite what Akira seems to think."

Makoto still couldn't believe how much progress they'd made. The girl beside him acted almost exactly like Nanako had in her life.

Despite this, Makoto was still hesitant about having to resort to "phase four", as Akira called it. After all, he'd be happy with just having her consciousness and memories in even a robot body. Did Akira _really_ have to resort to "phase four"?

"I'll just duel him, take what I need, and we'll be on our way," Makoto explained. "I'm not one for going overboard."

"That's good to hear," Nanako giggled. "It's nice to see you're still the same after all this time."

Even as Nanako leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, Makoto's mind was elsewhere. _Is this really right?_ Makoto thought. _Am I really doing the right thing? Is this what Nanako would have wanted?_

Makoto shook his head to derail that train of thought. He'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

 _Floor thirty-three, Eversummer..._

"Wow, did we find ourselves in a _beach world_ , of all places?" Yuuki gasped as they and the Sleeping Knights beheld the vistas of Eversummer, the capital of floor thirty-three. Eversummer consisted of a chain of multiple islands slightly submerged in water, giving the city a resort island feeling.

"You know what, I'll _take it_ , considering how freakin' arctic Blizzalia was," Katelyn admitted. "Much as I loved making snow angels and pummeling you guys with snowballs, I could do without the deep winter temperatures. Real wind chills are bad enough!"

"Come on, let's go check it out, you guys!" Hanmyo exclaimed. "Day at the beach!"

Yuuki was surprised to see the Sleeping Knights immediately following Katelyn and Hanmyo into the main plaza of Eversummer. "Guess they wanna relax, too," Yuuki giggled.

"I'm all for some relaxation after that boss fight," Nick replied. "And we're gonna need to be ready for the Squad Jam tomorrow, right?"

"Oh, _yeah_! I almost forgot the Squad Jam was tomorrow!" Yuuki exclaimed. "We're gonna kick _so_ many faces in, aren't we?"

"You know it," Nick laughed.

After a few seconds, Yuuki turned to look directly at Nick. "...hey, Nick? I love you."

"I love you, too, Yuuki," Nick replied, leaning in to kiss Yuuki on the cheek.

Yuuki leaped over to hug Nick tightly, cuddling into her boyfriend's chest. "I know I've already said this, but... stay with me forever?"

"I already promised that, right, silly?" Nick laughed.

As they leaned in for a kiss, they were stopped by the appearance of a boy about their age, a Spriggan from appearance, with dark blue hair and muted brown eyes. Next to him was a Sylph girl with shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes and a sunny smile.

Nick couldn't shake the feeling he'd seen the girl somewhere before.

"Um, excuse me?" Makoto asked. "Would it be okay if... I challenged you to a duel?"

"Me?" Nick wondered. "Any particular reason?"

"Not much," Makoto admitted, sending Nick a duel request. "I've just heard about your skills. You two are quite the pair, after all, especially considering some of your exploits against the recent floor bosses."

"Did word really get around that fast?" Yuuki asked.

"Well, I think it started on floor twenty-nine," Makoto stated.

"Oh, good god, please do not remind me of that nonsense," Nick groaned even as he accepted the duel request for a Half-Loss duel. "I'm surprised I haven't sworn off dragons as a whole, _especially_ after just fighting one."

Makoto couldn't help but chuckle even as he brought out his weapon, a large, double-bladed labrys made of ice.

"Okay, _that's_ an interesting weapon," Yuuki admitted.

"You'd be surprised what grinding in the Ice Caverns can do for your inventory," Makoto quipped as the countdown neared its conclusion. "Now, then, let's see what you've got!"

As the countdown expired, Makoto charged in, swinging his labrys in wide arcing attacks. Nick lashed out with Element Saber, in its fire affinity, to block and parry as best he could, since Makoto could apparently swing that labrys pretty quickly despite its size.

After another overhead swing, Nick saw his opportunity and moved in to unleash Ars Arcanum, only to get blasted back by the ice stalagmites that erupted from the point of impact.

"You okay, Nick?" Yuuki asked.

"Yeah. Was _not_ expecting that," Nick replied as he picked himself back up to attack again, this time deflecting another labrys swing before using Ars Arcanum, knocking off at least twenty percent of Makoto's health by the end of it.

Makoto wasn't one to admit defeat so easily, leaping through the air towards Nick and unleashing his own sword skill, Violent Spike, where he, upon landing near Nick, slashed twice with his labrys in an X pattern.

Nick tanked the hit, taking the damage so he could move in for another strike, knowing that many axe users, like Agil, needed to recover for a bit after strong attacks like that.

While Makoto recovered, Nick struck with a Sharp Nail that sent Makoto back a few steps and brought his health down to almost half.

Nick charged in again, hoping to deliver the finishing blow right away, but Makoto surprised him by swinging his labrys around him, creating a trench of ice spikes to surround his body and keep Nick from getting any closer.

Once the ice spikes dissipated, however (it happened a lot quicker than usual due to the tropical weather of Eversummer), Nick moved in for the kill, striking Makoto with a Drop Dash and knocking his health below half, declaring Nick the winner of the duel.

"Looks like I was right," Makoto quipped. "You are quite skilled for your age. Well, I have what I came for. Let's go to the city, Nanako. Don't want to keep Akira waiting, do we?"

Even as Makoto and Nanako made their way towards the plaza of Eversummer, Nick continued to watch them walk, a thoughtful expression highlighting his features.

"Everything all right, Nick?" Yuuki asked.

"I could have sworn I've seen that Sylph girl before..." Nick stated. "I just can't place it."

"How about we worry later and find the Sleeping Knights before they leave us behind?" Yuuki giggled. "You _do_ still remember what happened the last time they did that, right?"

"Oh, crap, you're right!" Nick exclaimed as he and Yuuki dashed off to rejoin the Sleeping Knights, not knowing that Makoto and Nanako were watching from behind a nearby palm tree.

"Was that what you needed?" Nanako wondered.

"Yes, Nanako," Makoto answered, re-watching the video footage he'd secretly taken of their duel, just as Akira had requested. "I got exactly what I needed."

"What are we getting all this video footage for, if I can ask?" Nanako asked. "You haven't said anything about it."

"It's for this project that Akira's putting together," Makoto replied. That was all he was allowed to say, per Akira's orders. With as smart as she was, Nanako would most likely figure out what Akira _really_ intended to do with the data they'd gathered.

Even so...

 _The next day, Gun Gale Online wastelands..._

Nick, Yuuki, Katelyn, Hanmyo, and Mira all stood with their weapons ready, staring towards the sky, specifically at the giant information window that hung over the entire wasteland of Gun Gale Online. Said window displayed a countdown that was currently down to three minutes.

Across the horizons, Nick could see the extremely faint outlines of other teams of players, ready for their own shot at glory.

In short, the clock was ticking down to the commencement of the third Squad Jam tournament.

"Well, ladies, how do you think we're gonna do here?" Nick asked his friends, twirling his Beretta in his hands and preparing for the chaos he knew was about to erupt.

"I'm going for the win, after all!" Katelyn giggled, loading her Carbine and her Benelli and checking to make sure she had all the ammo she needed for both weapons.

"Let's just scope out the competition first," Hanmyo replied, twirling her Desert Eagles while generally trying to look like one of those cowboy characters from a Wild West movie. "We don't know who we're up against, and considering how LLENN gave Yuuki a run for her money..."

"That'd be so awesome if we got to face her again!" Yuuki laughed, readying her Sig Sauer as the countdown continued to tick away.

"It's almost done, everybody! Let's get ready!" Mira proclaimed.

The entire team tensed up as the countdown reached its last five seconds.

Once the countdown reached zero, the large information window switched to a display that simply read "BEGIN!", followed by a loud fanfare that echoed across the wastelands.

"CHARGE!" Yuuki shouted, and all five team members followed her command and dashed down the dunes towards another team of three that was approaching their position fast.

The Squad Jam had begun.

 _To be continued..._

* * *

On the next episode...

Yuuki: It's time! Let's Squad Jam, everybody!

Hanmyo: ...Yuuki, that joke was almost as bad as one of my dad's "dad jokes".

Yuuki: H-hey, it's not my fault that's the official tagline for this Squad Jam! Cut me some slack, okay?

Nick: How about we all focus on this team that jumped us?

Makoto: Why am I even here, Arsene? You _know_ I'm horrible at shooters.

Akira: You know why! We're so close to completing phase three, after all.

Makoto: I thought you already had all the data you needed.

Akira: Better safe than sorry, right?

Yuuki: Hey, Nick, isn't that the guy who dueled you the other day?

Nick: Hold on just a second, now I remember why that girl with him looks so familiar to me! Next time on _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:_ , "Let's Squad Jam"!

Nick, Yuuki, Katelyn, and Hanmyo: This may be a game, but it's not something you play!


	10. Let's Squad Jam!

"It's almost done, everybody! Let's get ready!" Mira proclaimed.

The entire team tensed up as the countdown reached its last five seconds.

Once the countdown reached zero, the large information window switched to a display that simply read "BEGIN!", followed by a loud fanfare that echoed across the wastelands.

"CHARGE!" Yuuki shouted, and all five team members followed her command and dashed down the dunes towards another team of three that was approaching their position fast.

The Squad Jam had begun.

"I see them," Makoto proclaimed, wondering why he was here, of all places. He'd never played GGO before this, and he definitely expected himself to get stomped by many of the more experienced players that were participating in the Squad Jam. "Remind me again what we're doing here, Akira?"

"We're going to collect one more piece of data, and then we can begin phase four," Akira proclaimed, his face a mask of neutral, but on the inside, he was cackling with glee, as he was almost finished with his greatest project, the one that had taken almost two whole years to perfect.

Once again, Makoto sighed, hoping that Nanako, who was right behind them, wouldn't catch on.

"Who should we go after first?" Nanako asked. "They all look really skilled."

Makoto gazed down towards another team that was approaching their position.

"How about them?" Makoto offered. "They don't look _that_ skilled. I can tell by their expressions.

"Perfect," Akira laughed. "Let's do this!"

The three of them raised their weapons (Makoto's was an M16 rifle, Akira's was a Browning A-5 shotgun, and Nanako dual-wielded M1911 pistols) and jumped down from their hiding spot to attack the team of three that was approaching them.

Even so, many thoughts still ran through Makoto's mind. Was all of this really worth it in the end?

* * *

(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)

 **The Blue Time Ranger** is proud to present...  
 _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:  
_ **Story Created:** January 24th, 2018  
 **Story Rated:** T for Teen

 **Story Summary:** What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?

 **On Today's Episode:** Nick and Yuuki, along with their friends, are participating in Gun Gale Online's third Squad Jam tournament, a team-based battle royale inspired by Kirito and Sinon's teamwork during the last Bullet of Bullets. They'll go up against multiple teams, all vying for the glory of the championship. But despite this, Makoto and Akira are also participating, still looking for data for their project. Will their plans finally come to light amidst the heat of the Squad Jam?

 **And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I _did_ own Sword Art Online, which I _don't_ , why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

* * *

Episode 10: Let's Squad Jam!

"Incoming!" Yuuki shouted as one of the opposing team members started spraying them with bullets. Yuuki swung her Kagemitsu to cut down as many as she could while Nick and Katelyn moved in to attack.

As the opponent team's damage specialist raised his gun, Yuuki was over there in a flash to slash at his hand and make him drop his gun so that Katelyn could vault over Yuuki and fire at the guy's head, scoring a perfect headshot and dealing critical damage. The rest of the team backed a few steps away in reflexive fear as their teammate exploded into shards of light.

"Yeah, run, cowards!" Katelyn shouted, really getting into the spirit of the thing as she began to fire on the rest of the team, forcing them to flee even as she caught a couple of them with her rapid firing.

"Well, we sent them running," Katelyn giggled.

"But we'll have to eliminate them sooner or later, right?" Hanmyo replied, reloading her Desert Eagles. "Such is the point of a free-for-all, even when it's in teams."

"Master, enemy team approaching from the southwest!" Mira shouted, aiming her Glock for the approaching enemies, firing off two shots that knocked their leader down to the ground. The other teammates rallied around their leader to help him up. "I see our chance! Master, what should we do?"

"Let's attack while they're all distracted," Nick responded. "Take 'em all out at once."

"Roger on that one!" Yuuki exclaimed, and together, they all bum-rushed the enemy team, managing to take them out rather quickly due to overwhelming them with surprise tactics.

Within about a minute, only the leader of the team was left, and Nick simply raised his Beretta to finish the job.

"Sorry, man, it's not you. This _is_ a tournament, after all," Nick stated before pulling the trigger...

...only for another shot to ring out and finish off the team's leader with a perfect headshot, his body exploding into shards of light.

"W-what just happened?" Yuuki wondered.

"All right, who's the kill-stealer?!" Nick exclaimed.

As if they had been waiting for them to answer that, Makoto, Akira, and Nanako jumped down from a nearby rock face, their weapons primed and ready.

"That would be us," Akira proclaimed.

"Hey, Nick, isn't that the guy who dueled you the other day when we got to Eversummer?" Yuuki asked, gesturing to Makoto.

"Hey, yeah, it is," Nick stated.

"Well, it seems like we meet again," Makoto chuckled. "We seem to have a knack for running into each other."

"I'll say," Katelyn teased. " _We_ seem to have a knack for running into people who turn out to be big trouble, so how about you state your name and business before we have to get physical?"

"Katelyn, down," Hanmyo quipped. "They don't look like trouble to me."

"She's on the money," Akira responded. "We're not here to cause trouble, even though our... shall we say, 'other associate' put you through hell."

At first, Nick was confused about who they were talking about, until he quickly realized they could only be talking about one person.

"W-wait, you knew Souji?!" Nick exclaimed.

"Yes, we were his other friends back in Sword Art Online," Akira answered. "I guess... I wanna be the first to apologize for what he put all of you through. I know he was hurting over losing his sister, but we definitely didn't approve of what he became."

"If only we'd known sooner what was going to happen, we could have spared you all a lot of heartache, and we're truly sorry for that," Makoto continued.

"Hey, hey, you guys didn't do anything wrong," Yuuki replied. "You don't have to think you're just as guilty because you used to be his buddies."

"Yeah, and despite what happened with Souji, I'm still eternally grateful to all three of you guys," Hanmyo admitted. "After all, you saved my life back in SAO."

"Think nothing of it," Akira proclaimed. "It was just our duty to help people in need."

"I think we're supposed to be fighting, right, you guys?" Nanako asked. "This _is_ a free-for-all."

"Girl's got a point," Hanmyo giggled. "How about you guys show us your skills?"

Makoto, Akira, and Nanako all raised their weapons in unison.

"Oh, we definitely will," Akira taunted as he fired his weapon, only for Yuuki to dash in and swiftly slice the bullet in twain.

"Gonna have to try harder than that," Yuuki proclaimed.

Nanako raised her M1911s and began to fire on Katelyn, hoping to distract them enough so Akira could carry out his "super-secret plan", as he liked to call it.

Expecting this, Hanmyo readied her Desert Eagles and began firing back at Nanako, both of them resembling wild west cowboys locked in an epic duel.

While all this was transpiring, Nick and Yuuki stared down Makoto and Akira, both sides waiting for the other to make the first move.

"No giant axe to help you this time, huh?" Yuuki challenged.

"Oh, but we've got other tricks up our sleeves," Akira stated, firing his shotgun and catching Nick in the chest, sending him crashing to the ground. Before Nick could get back to his feet, Akira dashed forward quite quickly and grabbed Yuuki by her free arm.

"H-Hey! Hands off the merchandise, buster!" Yuuki growled, ready to slice Akira's hand off if she had to, only to see Akira arm a grenade and toss it straight downwards.

 _You clever tool!_ Yuuki thought as she quickly slashed at Akira's hand with her Kagemitsu and dove away just as the grenade detonated, covering the immediate area in an explosion of light.

When the flash cleared, Akira was nowhere to be found, the only trace of him remaining were the rapidly fading shards of his defeated avatar.

"Why did he do that?" Makoto groaned. "He _knew_ that would end him if he tried it, and he _missed_! He freakin' _missed_!"

"He's done this before?" Yuuki wondered even as she raised her Sig Sauer to fire on her remaining two opponents.

"And it didn't work the last time, either," Nanako giggled. "He keeps forgetting to check his health to make sure _he_ can survive it. I tried to tell him that, but he has a bad habit of not really listening to our advice..."

"Well, I don't expect us both to survive a six-on-two battle, but come at me anyway!" Makoto proclaimed, only to get blasted back by a direct headshot from Katelyn's Benelli.

"You asked for it," Katelyn proclaimed. "Don't say we didn't warn you."

Makoto flipped back onto his feet, only for Nick to finally recover and slug him in the chest, giving Yuuki ample time to land three clean slashes with her Kagemitsu and finish off Makoto.

As his avatar faded into shards of light, Nanako steadied herself, understanding that she was probably in trouble. After all, she hadn't been playing GGO for very long, and it was currently six against one. Not entirely convincing odds, right?

Before charging, Nanako sung a short verse from her favorite song while seemingly praying to someone.

And this was where Nick started to realize that something didn't quite add up with all of this.

First it was the thought that this girl looked oddly familiar to him, even though he was quite sure they'd never met before the other day, when Makoto had dueled him in Eversummer.

But that song...

It was exactly the same song that he'd heard Nanako's spirit singing during his battle with Souji at the SAO Survivors Academy.

And now, looking back up at Nanako raising her M1911s for a scuffle, Nick realized that, with the exception of the armor she wore, she looked exactly like the spirit that had advised him.

Even as Yuuki and Hanmyo charged to battle Nanako, Nick was still trying to fit the pieces together in his mind. After all, if Nanako was dead...

...how exactly was she here right now, blasting away with dual weapons that clearly belied her adorable appearance?

And what did Makoto and Akira have to do with this, if anything?

Was she secretly an AI?

Had she not actually died?

Nick snapped to attention once Nanako fell to her knees from battle damage, realizing that he wouldn't get any answers just thinking about it.

He'd have to wring the answers from Makoto and Akira one way or another.

As Nanako's avatar disintegrated, Yuuki was the first to catch Nick's thoughtful expression.

"Is everything all right, Nick?" Yuuki asked, walking up to Nick and patting him on the shoulder a couple times. "You seem like you got distracted."

Nick sighed in confusion before turning back to his girlfriend. "Yuuki, honestly... you wouldn't believe me if I told you," Nick admitted.

"Hey, Nick, I'm your girlfriend. You know I'll always listen to anything you have to say," Yuuki giggled.

"Well..."

Nick decided to bite the bullet.

"Would you believe me if I said that the girl with those boys... was actually Nanako?"

Yuuki gasped in surprise. "W-wait, you mean Souji's sister? I thought she died back in SAO, didn't she?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Nick stated. "That's why I'm confused. If she's supposed to be dead, how is she here? I'm starting to think that those two guys are hiding something from us."

"Hey, I had a theory about that," Hanmyo chimed in. "From what I remember of those boys, Makoto was honestly... well, he was hopelessly in love with Nanako back in Sword Art Online, and Souji was kinda against the idea, since he was so worried something was going to go wrong, which it obviously did when she died."

Hanmyo sheathed her Desert Eagles for the moment, since their radars didn't show any teams near their position. "I'm going to hazard a guess that the Nanako we just fought might be an AI in her likeness."

"Is that even possible in a game like this?" Katelyn asked.

"Well, maybe," Nick quipped. "I mean, look at Yui. She's an AI, right?"

"Master, enemy team approaching from the southwest!" Mira exclaimed, readying her Glock to attack the incoming team.

"Yeah, we can finish this conversation later, right, guys?" Hanmyo laughed. "We've got a tournament to win, after all!"

The entire group cheered before rushing forward to face their next opponents.

 _Meanwhile, somewhere in the real world..._

"Yes! We finally did it!" Akira exclaimed, ignorant of the people who were around them, wondering what he was so happy about. "We officially have all the data we need to proceed to phase four of our master plan!"

"Dude, keep your voice down," Makoto groaned. "Do you want the people to think you're crazy or something?"

"I'm just so excited, dude!" Akira responded. "We're finally going to be able to bring Nanako back! Aren't _you_ excited?!"

"Of _course_ I am," Makoto answered. "I just don't start shouting like I'm insane to everybody in earshot."

"Man, I just can't contain myself anymore," Akira admitted. "We've been working together on this project for over _two years_. We made this our mission once we escaped Sword Art Online. We promised that we wouldn't stop until she was back in our world."

"If only Souji could have lived to see this day," Makoto sighed. "I still wonder what Nanako would have done if she knew what Souji turned into because of her death."

"That's why we're not going to tell her," Akira stated quite firmly as they reached their destination, the secret area where their project had been kept under wraps while they spent the past two years perfecting it. "Under _no_ circumstance do you _ever_ tell her what happened, _or_ what the boy did to her. Understand, Makoto?"

"Yes, yes, I get it," Makoto quipped as they looked at 'it'. "You don't have to rub it in."

Still, Makoto couldn't help but smile at the brilliance that Akira had created. Sitting there, on the table between them, was a heavily modified NerveGear unit that had used to belong to Akira. It had, in fact, been the one that had trapped Akira in Sword Art Online, and the very one that Akira intended to use to bring his "project" to life, as he knew only a NerveGear could possibly perform what they were about to do.

As Akira went to load the data he had gathered during the Squad Jam, Makoto gazed wistfully at the NerveGear. Soon, the woman he loved would return to the real world.

Even so, somewhere, a voice in the back of his mind once again reminded him of what exactly "phase four" would entail, but this time, Makoto's swelling feelings for Nanako pushed that voice into the darkness.

 _Nanako... please wait just a little longer for me, okay?_ Makoto thought. _I'll be waiting._

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand _done_!" Akira proclaimed, removing a small drive from the computer he'd been working on. "Phase four is almost ready to commence!"

"Wait, what else do we have to do?" Makoto wondered.

"One last thing, I promise," Akira replied. "I need you to go and 'pick up' the 'package'. The Squad Jam is still going on, so you shouldn't have any problem if you stay stealthy like I taught you."

"Oh okay," Makoto answered. "It shouldn't take too long, then."

"As long as you make sure to do it quick," Akira proclaimed, switching his computer screen to a livestream feed of the Squad Jam. "The Squad Jam's down to the last five teams."

"Color me gone," Makoto stated, racing out of the 'secret place'.

As Akira continued to watch the Squad Jam unfold, he couldn't contain his excitement over their long-awaited plans finally coming to fruition.

 _We'll make you proud, Souji, just you watch,_ Akira thought.

 _Gun Gale Online, just outside the wastelands..._

"W-what... what just happened?"

Yuuki waved her hand to make sure everything was working right. After all, they had been advancing on another team, and then...

...something sped by them like a blur, and then the next thing she knew, she was respawning outside of the Squad Jam area. And from the looks of things, her fellow players had experienced the same odd feeling.

"I-I think we just got annihilated," Katelyn admitted.

"But... who took us down, though?" Hanmyo asked, sheathing her Desert Eagles for now. "I tried to follow whoever was shooting me, but all I saw was a blur."

"That must mean it was probably LLENN," Nick quipped. "She's the only person in GGO that's _that freakin' fast_."

"I think I got sniped by that girl LLENN was playing with," Katelyn stated. "Oof, I never thought that a sniper rifle could hurt that much."

"Master, according to the rankings, our team is most likely going to take third place," Mira proclaimed. "Not bad for our first trip, right?"

"To be honest, that's pretty good for our first time in the Squad Jam," Yuuki admitted. "But next time, we're going for the win, right?"

"You know it," Nick responded, high-fiving Yuuki.

Hanmyo suddenly twitched when she heard a beep come from out of nowhere. Yuuki opened her menu, as the beep had been loudest to her, to find a message from Nori.

 _Hey, Yuuki, where have you two been? Aren't we going to explore that new dungeon on the faraway island? People are saying it's really strange with great rewards! ~ Nori_

Yuuki couldn't help but giggle at the way Nori had phrased that message. Yuuki had been quite sure she'd told the Sleeping Knights that she'd be participating in the Squad Jam today, right?

Swiping her fingers through the keyboard, Yuuki quickly typed her reply.

 _Remember, Nori? Nick and I went to the Squad Jam in GGO today! Sadly, we only got third place (LLENN kinda kicked our butts), but I think that's pretty good for our first time! We're gonna log out of GGO and jump back to ALO in a few minutes, okay? See you back in Eversummer! ~ Yuuki_

"They're waiting for us, aren't they?" Nick laughed.

"Yeah, I think Nori forgot we were in GGO today," Yuuki giggled. "We'd better get back to ALO before someone drags us there."

"Good idea," Nick quipped.

"We'll meet you guys there!" Katelyn and Hanmyo proclaimed as they logged out themselves.

Nick turned to Mira, her smile never wavering. "Well, I guess we've gotta go, Mira," Nick stated, only for Mira to leap over and hug him.

"Don't worry about me, master! You have fun with your friends!" Mira laughed. "I'll see you when you come back!"

"She's so precious," Yuuki admitted.

"I know," Nick stated. "It's like they designed her that way."

Nick and Yuuki reached out to hold hands, then wave goodbye to Mira as they logged out together.

Nick couldn't help but sigh in relief once again as he returned to reality. He was glad to be back to having normal adventures again, with no weirdoes threatening the peace of him and his friends.

When Nick finally opened his eyes and slid his Amusphere off of his head, he noticed that something wasn't quite right.

This wasn't the hospital, after all.

It looked like some kind of laboratory, with multiple computer monitors running diagnostics and many other programs he didn't recognize or understand.

And he was seated on a large table, almost as if he were a test subject for something.

 _I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut sometimes,_ Nick thought as he began to think of a way he could escape from...

...wherever the hell he was.

But before he could even jump off the table to land on his own feet, he heard the telltale sound of a door opening and footsteps approaching him.

"Well, you're awake, are you?"

Nick looked up to see none other than Akira standing there, a stupidly large grin on his face and both of his hands cradling a strange device shaped like a helmet.

"W-what the hell?" Nick gasped. Though he had never seen Akira IRL, he definitely recognized his voice from their encounter in the Squad Jam. "What the crap are _you_ doing here?!"

"I'd think it was obvious," Akira laughed. "We brought you here."

"Okay, so I'm apparently the next subject for Doctor Franken-Tron," Nick quipped. "As long as I'm here, you mind telling me _why_? Or is that just not happening?"

"All you need to know is that this is the culmination of our work for the past two years," Akira proclaimed. "We have been working and slaving without end for this to happen, and now that we have all the necessary data, we can conclude our work and allow her back into the world of the living."

"What _exactly_ are you on about?" Nick growled, shifting into a fighting stance. "Because I'm not afraid to start kicking some asses if I've gotta..."

It was at this point that Nick noticed what Akira was holding. It was a NerveGear.

"W-wait a minute, how do you still have a NerveGear?!" Nick exclaimed. "Didn't the government seize and destroy all of them after the SAO Incident?!"

"Yeah, but I hid mine safely away," Akira explained. "And I've been modifying it extensively over these two years for this exact purpose."

"For _what_?!" Nick shouted. "Why can't you just use an Amusphere for whatever you're planning?!"

"That's impossible," Akira answered. "Because of the changes they made when they invented the Amusphere, I knew that only a NerveGear could make my project a reality. Why do you think I've been modifying it and not my own Amusphere?"

"And that's the thing," Nick cut in. "You _still_ haven't told me your sick little plan yet! I thought all good villains monologue about their evil plans!"

"Oh, but I'm not a villain, boy," Akira stated. "I'm merely doing what I must to bring a loved one back to life."

Nick stood there for a few seconds, trying to piece together what he meant by that.

But when said pieces finally clicked together, Nick clenched his fists tightly, ready to start punching if the opportunity presented.

"You're out of your mind," Nick proclaimed. "Why do you feel like you need to play god like this? She's _dead_ , jackass! She's _not coming back_ , no matter how much you wish it to be otherwise!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Akira stated.

"Wait, w-what?"

"I know Nanako can't come back in the traditional way," Akira explained. "But Makoto and I knew her better than _anyone_ , so along the way, we created and coded an AI in Nanako's likeness, with all of her speech, thought, and personality patterns. She may be an AI, but she acts just like the real deal did! You don't think that's revolutionary, boy?"

"It's _madness_ is what it is!" Nick challenged. "I know AIs can potentially become more like humans if you give them time, but it still wouldn't be the same Nanako! And what if she knew you were trying this? What do you think she'd say?!"

In response, Akira just laughed. "Please! I'm sure she'd be _happy_ to come back to life! It was a total crock how she died anyway! Who _wouldn't_ want a do-over?!"

"All right, you son of a bitch, I'm _not_ allowing you to turn into another Phantom," Nick proclaimed, ready to attack. "Here's how this is going to go down. You're going to drop that damn NerveGear and I'm going to knock your heads around for even _daring_ to mess with forces you don't understand."

Once again, Akira just laughed, causing Nick to tense up. "What's so funny, asshole?!"

"Oh, your mistake is thinking I'm going to _let_ you escape after we've fought for so long and sacrificed so much," Akira proclaimed. "Makoto, restrain him!"

Before Nick could turn around to defend himself, Makoto had lunged from behind and grappled Nick with a full nelson.

"Hurry, Akira! I don't know how much longer I can hold him!" Makoto exclaimed as Nick continued to struggle against him, even jamming his elbow into Makoto's stomach a few times.

Akira quickly crossed the distance between them, reaching up to place the NerveGear on Nick's head.

"Hey, what... get this thing off of me, you bastards!" Nick shouted, still attempting to free himself from Makoto's seemingly unbreakable grip. "I SAID..."

"LINK START!" Akira and Makoto shouted together.

The NerveGear activated itself upon receiving the startup command, and Nick immediately fell unconscious as his mind was sent to the virtual world, his body slumping into Makoto's arms.

"Put him on the table," Akira commanded. Makoto did so, laying Nick's body back on the table as Akira produced the flash drive he'd been working on for so long. "This is where the final phase begins."

Akira walked up and plugged the flash drive into a USB port on the side of the NerveGear, which fed the data within into the NerveGear systems.

"And now we wait," Akira proclaimed. "It's only a matter of time."

"But... what if she...?" Makoto asked.

"Oh, she won't lose," Akira stated. "This _is_ Nanako we're talking about. She was trained by Souji, and you _know_ how good he was. The only reason she lost in GGO is because she's not used to shooters yet."

Makoto sat down on a nearby chair, ready to wait as long as he felt he needed to. "I sincerely hope you're right."

"Have I ever steered you wrong before, buddy?"

Makoto decided not to answer that.

 _Yokohama Kohoku General Hospital, twenty minutes ago..._

"So, Nick, did you have fun?" Yuuki giggled as she lifted the Medicuboid off of her head, only to discover that Nick was nowhere to be found.

Almost instantly, Yuuki began to fear the worst, as Nick had obviously been here when they logged into GGO for the Squad Jam, and he always told her if he was in a different room for whatever reason, usually waiting until both of them were back to reality before telling her, so she wouldn't freak out.

And, now that her eyesight had adjusted back to reality, Yuuki could see that the door to her room was hanging wide open, almost listing off of its hinges, as if it had been kicked open.

Now that her panic was beginning to set in, Yuuki immediately jumped out of bed and began to rush down the hallway, only to once again collide with Kurahashi, as she hadn't seen him in her panic-induced state.

"We really have to stop meeting like this," Kurahashi teased, only for all humor to flee his mind when he saw Yuuki's expression of panic and fear.

"Yuuki, what's the matter?" Kurahashi asked delicately, hoping that he wouldn't set her off accidentally.

"Someone kidnapped Nick!" Yuuki exclaimed, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. "I woke up and he was gone! You _know_ he would never leave without telling me!"

"Yuuki, calm down, please," Kurahashi stated.

"I don't know what to do, doc!" Yuuki cried. "I don't think you'd let me go find him again... I know I used all of my freebies... doc, I _really_ don't know what I'm supposed to do... I don't want to lose Nick... _I can't lose him, Kurahashi!_ "

Kurahashi had never seen Yuuki this scared before. Yuuki was on the edge of a nervous breakdown because she couldn't stand the thought of losing Nick after everything they'd been through.

And seeing the look of absolute despair on someone who had constantly done her best to _fight_ that kind of despair, no matter what it took... That was all Kurahashi needed to make his decision.

"Yuuki?" Kurahashi asked. "You might want to get dressed if you're going out. I think it's a little too chilly to be out in just your hospital gown."

"Y-you mean it, doc?" Yuuki gasped before hugging Kurahashi tightly. "Thank you so much!"

"I know how much he means to you," Kurahashi replied. "Would you like me to call your friend Asuna?"

"Please, doc," Yuuki responded, wiping a few of her tears. "I think I'm gonna need all the help I can get."

Yuuki made a mad dash back to her room and began digging through Nick's bag, eventually coming back out dressed in one of his shirts and a pair of black shorts, along with a pair of his running shoes, because heck, to get around in time to find him, she really had no choice.

"I just called Asuna," Kurahashi proclaimed. "She and her friends are on their way."

"I'll meet 'em halfway, doc," Yuuki answered. "Because I can't afford to waste any time with this."

"Go get him back, okay, Yuuki?" Kurahashi stated.

"Will do," Yuuki responded before dashing away.

Kurahashi couldn't help but smile as Yuuki disappeared from sight. Those two really were made for each other, weren't they?

Yuuki focused her mind as she continued her mad rush down the streets of Yokohama, hoping she could find Nick before anything happened to him. After all, her mind had been cruelly conjuring images of what Nick's kidnappers might be doing at the moment, so she forced herself to focus and not let her imagination get the better of her now of all times.

All she could think about was finding Nick and making whoever kidnapped him pay dearly for what they'd done.

"Yuuki! Over here!"

Yuuki skidded to a stop at the sound of her name being called, and she looked up to see Asuna rushing towards her, what must have been a small army following her.

Upon closer inspection, Yuuki realized that the others were all of Kazuto and Asuna's friends from the various games they'd played.

Kazuto Kirigaya, alias Kirito, the Black Sworsdman himself.

Asuna Yuuki, alias... well, Asuna, the "Lightning Flash" and Yuuki's best friend.

Keiko Ayano, alias Silica, the Cait Sith beast tamer.

Rika Shinozaki, alias Lisbeth, the group's official blacksmith.

Ryotaro Tsuboi, alias Klein, the leader of Furinkazan and a self-admitted "badass samurai".

Suguha Kirigaya, alias Leafa, Kazuto's older sister and a kendo master in the making.

Andrew Gilbert Mills, alias Agil, the tall and intimidating but surprisingly gentle merchant.

And even Shino Asada, alias Sinon, the Sniper Queen of Gun Gale Online.

"Y-you... you _all_ came to help me?" Yuuki gasped.

"Of course, Yuuki," Asuna responded as if it were the most natural thing ever. "There's no way we'd leave you hanging like this when you need us."

"Yeah! Any friend of Asuna is a friend of ours!" Keiko proclaimed, stepping up to give Yuuki a hug, figuring she might need one at the moment.

"Besides, there's no way I'm letting you leave me out of the stomping," Rika laughed. "We owe whoever took your boyfriend some lumps, right?"

"How about we see if they actually _deserve_ a stomping first?" Kazuto quipped. "We still don't know _why_ they kidnapped Nick."

"He accepted me even after he figured out my past," Shino admitted. "The least I can do is help my friend out when he needs it. That's what friends do, right?"

"And no way are you guys leaving me out of this," Suguha proclaimed, already clutching her shinai. "I want to help in any way I can."

"True that! A friend in need is a friend indeed, right?" Ryotaro exclaimed.

"Couldn't have said it any better, buddy," Andrew responded.

Yuuki couldn't help but tear up at the support of her friends. Nick always liked to claim that he had the best friends ever, and that's exactly how Yuuki felt at this moment.

"Thank you. Thank _all_ of you _so much_ ," Yuuki proclaimed. "I don't know how I could ever repay you for this."

"Aw, you don't have to worry about that," Asuna replied, giving Yuuki a hug of her own. "Friends help each other out. It's just a general rule, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Now let's go get Nick back," Yuuki stated.

"GOD DAMN IT!"

"Katie, wait!"

The entire group spun around to see a very pissed off Katelyn storming down the sidewalk just ahead with a very flustered Shoko trying to drag her back.

"Katie, seriously, we don't know what's over there!" Shoko exclaimed. "Can we _please_ stop for _three damn seconds_ and figure things out?!"

"No freakin' way in _hell,_ Shoko! I'm going to _tear those bastards apart_ for this!" Katelyn shouted. "Just let me at 'em and I swear to god, I'm going to..."

Katelyn stopped her ranting short when she noticed Yuuki and her friends staring at them.

"Um... how much of that did you hear?" Katelyn asked, blushing slightly now.

"Is everything okay, you two?" Rika asked.

Shoko gestured to Katelyn to stay silent for the moment and walked up to the group. "By the fact that you're out of the hospital again, Yuuki, I'm going to assume that you and everyone here are going to save Nick?" Shoko proclaimed.

"Um, y-yes, actually. Wait, how did you know he got snatched?" Yuuki wondered.

Shoko reached into her pocket and pulled out a hastily-scribbled note she'd found in the mail at her home. "This was addressed to me from those boys that were Souji's friends," Shoko explained. "They told me where to find their 'secret place' and challenged me to come and find them if we ever want to see Nick again."

"Which is _exactly_ why I'm going to tear those two a new _hole_ for lying through their _teeth_ to us!" Katelyn growled.

"Um, Katie, you might wanna add all of us to that list," Rika replied.

"Yeah, if we know where they're hiding, we need to go there and take care of those jerks!" Keiko proclaimed.

"Did they tell you where they're holed up?" Ryotaro asked.

"According to the info I was given," Shoko explained, holding another paper up, which turned out to be a map of Yokohama with a specific place highlighted in red marks. "This looks like one of Yokohama's older processing plants that were abandoned at the onset of the digital revolution. Those buildings have been condemned for years, so I'm surprised no one's caught them in the act."

"Wait, what if this is a trap?" Asuna realized. "If they're giving you their exact location, they must have something planned for when we eventually get there."

"I understand that, Asuna, but I'm not going to leave Nick in the lurch when he needs me more than ever," Yuuki responded. "And besides, we have an advantage those jerks don't know about. They're probably just expecting me, Katie, and Shoko to come looking, not _all of us_. We can cover each other's backs and keep it together. I'm _not_ letting those two walk all over us."

"Spoken like a wonderful girlfriend would," Kazuto stated, glancing briefly at Asuna, who returned with a smile. "Well, I think we've wasted enough time. Let's go find Nick and take those two marauders down."

"I'm afraid that won't really be necessary."

Everyone spun around and noticed that Makoto and Akira were standing about a block away from them, both in fighting stances and wielding knives.

"Considering, well, that we're here already," Akira continued.

"Guys, seriously, what is this all about?" Shoko demanded, cutting right to the point. "What exactly are you up to, and just how the hell does Nick factor into that?"

"At least you're not accusing us of being villains right off the bat like he did," Akira sighed.

"Well, when you _kidnap_ someone for no apparent reason, they have every damn right to think you're villains!" Katelyn shouted, her body begging her to jump forward and attack.

"Just... where is he?" Yuuki pleaded. " _Please_ tell me he's okay..."

"We didn't do anything to him," Makoto answered.

"Yet," Akira added. "In just half an hour, she will come back to life through his body."

"Wait, _what_?" Asuna gasped. "What are you planning?"

It didn't take long for Shoko to fit the pieces together, and she sent a death glare towards Akira and Makoto.

"They're trying to bring Nanako back to life," Shoko proclaimed, all eyes now on her. "Remember how we saw Nanako fighting alongside them in the Squad Jam, and we theorized that it must be an AI in her likeness, since she's been dead for over two years?"

Shoko shifted into a karate stance, knowing that the fists and blades would likely be flying very soon. "I don't know how they're planning to do it, but they're probably going to use that AI to bring Nanako back to life IRL... using Nick's body as her vessel."

Shoko really didn't know how to word it any other way, especially when she caught a glimpse of Yuuki's sudden expression shift.

"W-wha... does that mean..." Yuuki gasped.

"Exactly," Akira laughed. "Once the process is complete, your boyfriend will no longer exist in this world. Nanako will be reborn!"

Makoto decided to chance it and see how everyone was taking it, but when he saw Yuuki fall to her knees in absolute grief, tears flowing from her eyes like waterfalls, his regrets about "phase four" began to resurface.

 _Are we really doing the right thing?_ Makoto wondered, unable to take his eyes off of Yuuki in her despair. _I wanted to have Nanako back, but... not if it means others will grieve for someone they loved and lost. That's exactly the same pain that Souji inflicted on the boy. Is that... the same pain we're inflicting on Yuuki?_

"But, as to why we're here," Akira proclaimed. "Since we knew some of you were most likely on your way to stop us, we decided that we have to stop you right here. Or at least stall you long enough."

One more look at Yuuki's grief-stricken face was all the convincing Katelyn needed. Even as she took a step forward, Suguha had already dropped her bag and opened it to toss another shinai to Kazuto, and two to Katelyn as well. She had made sure to bring extras, just in case.

Katelyn caught the two shinais and adopted her battle stance from ALO, her expression turning positively murderous.

"You've officially crossed the line, you bastards!" Katelyn growled. "I am _not_ going to stand here while you _bodyjack_ my best friend for your sick attempts at playing god! So, all I have to say to you is..."

Katelyn spun the shinais in her hands and charged straight for Makoto and Akira.

"...get ready to feel the pain, you _punks_!"

Akira juked to avoid Katelyn's incoming strike, but was quickly surprised when she spun around with much of the grace she possessed in ALO and smashed one of her shinais into his side, causing him to stumble.

"M-Makoto, stop standing there like a dope and help me out!" Akira shouted, causing Makoto to snap to attention and ready his own combat knife.

Sadly, Makoto's real lack of combat skill was apparent, as his swings were clumsy and easily dodged by the much more graceful Katelyn.

"Yeah, doesn't exactly feel like your precious virtual world, _does it, asshole?!_ " Katelyn screamed, attacking with an overhead swing that knocked Makoto to the ground.

"Ugh, do I have to do everything myself?" Akira groaned, moving to help Makoto to his feet, only to be stopped by Shoko planting herself firmly in front of him. "Come on, now, Hanmyo, we don't need to do this."

"You may not think that," Shoko proclaimed. "But I say we _do_. Nick is my friend, and I am _not_ one to let nuts like you do whatever they want with my friends. So you'd better believe that I won't be holding back."

"You'd really attack your old friend?" Akira taunted, thinking that she wouldn't have the guts, only to be proven wrong when Shoko took a few steps forward and drove both of her fists into his stomach, causing him to keel over.

"If it's to protect my best friends, you bet your _ass_ I would," Shoko stated.

Makoto got to his feet quickly, only to realize that Katelyn, Kirito, and Suguha were flanking him from three different sides.

"Why did you do it, Makoto?" Suguha asked. "Why are you enabling him? He's obviously crossed a line with what he's doing!"

"You don't think I know that?" Makoto muttered. "I would have been just fine with her being in some kind of robot or cyborg body, but he _insisted_ on doing it this way..."

"Then why the hell don't you call him out for it?!" Katelyn shot back. "You're _letting_ him do it, you know! Is this _really_ what Nanako would have wanted?!"

"I don't know anymore..." Makoto sighed before raising his knife.

"All right, so we're doing this the hard way," Kirito quipped as all three shinai wielders charged for Makoto at once.

As the multi-pronged battle raged on, Yuuki could only think about the fact that if they didn't get to the processing plant soon, she would lose the boy she loved forever.

And Yuuki didn't know if she could handle that.

* * *

Nick opened his eyes to find himself in the digital void that represented ALfheim Online's login screen, still incredibly confused as to what was happening.

"I... guess I should log in," Nick quipped. "Maybe then I'll figure a way out of here."

Nick gestured to the login window and entered his username and password, and after the normal vortex of multi-colored light, he found himself back in Eversummer, the last place he'd been to in New Aincrad before the Squad Jam.

After a quick check of his equipment and his appearance to make sure everything was still together, Nick reached behind him to draw the Element Saber, knowing he'd probably have to fight.

"I'll probably have to fight those two jerkoffs again," Nick theorized.

"Um, excuse me?"

Nick spun around, ready for a battle, only to be surprised to see Nanako standing a few feet away from him, her own weapon drawn and ready for a fight.

"Um..." was all Nick could really say. He wasn't sure what to make of this whole situation.

"Hey, don't take this the wrong way, but..." Nanako proclaimed. "Makoto told me that when you get here, I have to fight you. Please don't think I have a grudge against you or anything. I just... it's what he told me to do."

"Nanako, do you even know what those two are _doing_ right now?!" Nick exclaimed.

But his pleas fell on deaf ears as Nanako sent him a duel request, this time for a Total Loss duel. Nick hesitantly accepted, thinking that maybe he could get through to Nanako and find a way to return to the real world.

Once the countdown expired, Nanako swiftly unfurled her wings and raised her weapon, the katana Bluster.

"Here I come!" Nanako shouted, charging straight for Nick.

 _To be continued..._

* * *

On the next episode...

Asuna: Well, it seems like we're in trouble here.

Rika: Yeah, these freaks just don't wanna stay down! And we're running out of time as it is!

Shoko: Makoto, you have to stop this! You _know_ this isn't what Nanako would have wanted!

Akira: Oh, shut it! Stop trying to dissuade my partner! We've come too far to stop now!

Makoto: ...she's right, dude. I'm done.

Akira: Wait, what?

Nanako: You're pretty good, you know that?

Nick: Nanako, is this _really_ the time to be doing this? Because I have a strange feeling that something _really bad_ is going to happen if I lose this duel...

Nanako: Well, then consider that incentive not to lose!

Nick: I need to get out of here. Yuuki's probably worried _sick_ about me! Next time on _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:_ , "Into the Abyss"!

Nick, Yuuki, Katelyn, and Shoko: This may be a game, but it's not something you play!


	11. Into the Abyss

Nick still didn't know what to make of this situation, even as he continued to clash blades with Nanako.

The last thing he remembered before this was getting snatched by that antique NerveGear and suddenly waking up in ALfheim Online, and after logging in, he found himself thrust into a duel with Nanako, or at least the AI in her likeness.

Nick was seriously considering calling off the duel and logging out so he could get back to the real world and find Yuuki, who was most likely worried sick about him.

Then he realized (even while dodging a flying jump slash from Nanako) that while he was stuck here fighting Nanako, Yuuki and the others were most likely on their way to take care of Makoto and Akira and whatever else they had planned.

Which meant Nick decided he had to finish this duel quickly so he could search for his friends.

Nick also, for some odd reason, realized that he definitely needed to win this duel, as he had a rather odd feeling that if he lost the duel, it wouldn't exactly end well.

Even though he was unsure of why, it was just a gut feeling he had.

As Nanako wheeled around and unleashed what he could only describe as a sword beam made of wind, Nick raised the Dreamcloud to block the blast before rushing in to attack.

 _Please, just stay safe until I can get back, Yuuki,_ Nick thought as he once again clashed with Nanako before jumping back, each combatant assessing the other before attacking again.

 _I'll find my way back soon. That's a promise._

* * *

(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)

 **The Blue Time Ranger** is proud to present...  
 _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:  
_ **Story Created:** January 24th, 2018  
 **Story Rated:** T for Teen

 **Story Summary:** What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?

 **On Today's Episode:** Trouble has arisen on two fronts. In the real world, Yuuki and her friends are locked in battle with Makoto and Akira, who hope to stall long enough for the final phase of their project to be completed. In the virtual world, Nick and Nanako clash in an epic duel with unintended consequences for the loser. Which side of this double-fronted final showdown will emerge victorious once the dust finally settles?

 **And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I _did_ own Sword Art Online, which I _don't_ , why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

* * *

Episode 11: Into the Abyss

As the sounds of their clashing blades echoed throughout Eversummer, many other curious players continued to join the crowd that was forming around Nick and Nanako's battle.

"Just stand still already!" Nanako shouted, attempting to strike with a forward stab, but Nick simply swung Element Saber to knock Nanako off balance before sending her tumbling back with a Drop Dash.

Not wasting a second, Nick rushed forward, ripping forward with an Ars Arcanum, only for Nanako to block the attack with Bluster.

Nick didn't have time to be surprised as Nanako blasted him back with a Horizontal Square, making sure to plant his hand firmly on the ground before he crashed so he could flip back upright and not waste any time.

Nanako, however, was already on the move, slicing her way through the air with a Qiong-Ji, a sword skill consisting of five forward spinning slashes and finished by an upward swing. Nick simply dodged out of the way, noting that apparently Nanako couldn't turn around while the skill was executing.

Nick, naturally, took advantage of this by rushing towards Nanako's unprotected flank, waiting until the precise moment she landed to unleash Ars Arcanum again, and this time it connected, dropping Nanako's health in significant chunks with each strike, the final overhead slash sending her tumbling.

Nanako picked herself up rather quickly, clutching the hilt of Bluster tightly.

"I'm... I'm not done yet," Nanako proclaimed. "So don't underestimate me!"

So, once again they clashed blades, both sides hoping they would be the victor in this battle.

But even as they continued to fight, Nick's mind would still occasionally wonder what exactly was going to down back in the real world. With him trapped here during the duel, he couldn't exactly rush out of ALO to check on them, especially since he was pretty sure that Akira had made plans against that in some sense, if he'd really spent as much time modifying his NerveGear as he'd said.

 _Katie, Shoko, if you're with Yuuki, please protect her for me until I can make it,_ Nick thought as he dodged another wind blade attack from Nanako. _I don't know how this is going to end, so..._

Nick shook his head to clear _those_ thoughts away just in time to defend himself from another Qiong-Ji. If he let the darker thoughts cloud his mind, he was lose for sure, and he definitely didn't want to lose this duel considering the bad feeling he'd gotten about what would happen if he lost.

So he kept up his pattern of attacking and defending, deciding to worry about everything else when he was done here.

* * *

Makoto continued to duck and weave to avoid Katelyn and Suguha's attacks, while Kazuto was just standing there, waiting for a prime opportunity to launch an attack of his own.

"How many times do we have to tell you, jerk?!" Katelyn shouted, smashing her shinai straight downwards into Makoto's head and knocking him to his knees. "Why are you letting your so-called 'friend' do this?!"

"You wouldn't understand," Makoto sighed. "I loved Nanako so much, and I never got a chance to tell her before she died... I lost my opportunity, but now Akira's giving me a new opportunity..."

"Do you even realize what you're doing to Nick in the process?!" Suguha shot back. "You're going to essentially _erase someone from existence_ just to get your self-professed girlfriend back? Do you have _any idea_ how screwed up that is?!"

"That's Akira's fault, not mine!" Makoto exclaimed as he jumped to his feet to avoid a double overheard swing from Katelyn. "He was the one who kept _insisting_ on using 'phase four'! I would have been perfectly okay with just uploading her into a cyborg body or something like that!"

"Then, I reiterate," Katelyn growled. _"Why are you letting him do this?!_ You're messing with things you don't even have a chance of understanding!"

"P-Please... all I want is to have Nanako back..." Makoto sobbed, a few tears falling. "Do any of you understand what it's like to lose someone you love?"

"Yes," Kazuto answered simply. "I've lost friends to Sword Art Online, too. And I've wished so many times that I could bring them back, that I could undo their deaths, even when I know I can't."

"And consider this," Katelyn proclaimed. "Nick lost both of his parents to that psycho that used to be your friend. He lost loved ones, too. That's a kind of pain I would never wish to inflict on anyone, and that's _exactly_ the kind of pain you're putting Yuuki through if you keep this shit up!"

Makoto looked back at Yuuki, who had refused to stand up since the battle began, tears falling freely from her eyes.

And this time, it finally seemed to sink in for Makoto. The absolute despair and grief that Yuuki was showing, now that he thought about it, was _exactly_ how he'd felt when Souji had delivered the news that Nanako had died. That soul-crushing feeling of pain and anguish.

Katelyn was right. That was _exactly_ the pain that Yuuki was feeling right now.

And Makoto didn't feel like he could willingly inflict that pain on someone.

Sighing in defeat, Makoto fell to his knees and relinquished the grip he had on his combat knife, letting it clatter to the concrete.

"You're right," Makoto admitted. "I can't do this. Nanako wouldn't want me to hurt anyone just for her sake. That's exactly how a lot of villains are born."

Suguha lowered her shinai slightly, even as Katelyn kept hers in a battle stance, not sure if Makoto was faking it to get them to lower their guard.

Akira simply laughed as he continued to fight Shoko, parrying as many of her punches and kicks as he could. "Just give up, girlie," Akira taunted. "You're not gonna get anywhere if you keep trying to punch me."

Akira threw a hook towards Shoko, only to gasp in surprise when she clamped both of her arms around his and shifted his weight so she could powerslam him into the ground.

" _You_ taught me how to fight hand-to-hand," Shoko stated. "So you probably should have seen that coming."

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Akira proclaimed as he jumped back to his feet. "Makoto and I will _not_ be denied the return of our goddess!"

"Akira, forget it."

Akira looked in surprise at Makoto, who had a strange look of defeat on his face. "W-wait, Makoto, what exactly are you saying?" Akira challenged.

"Exactly what I'm saying," Makoto shot back. "I can't take this anymore. Don't you see the hurt and pain we're causing to these people? Nanako wouldn't want this, you _know_ that. I mean, just look at her!"

Makoto pointed to the distraught Yuuki to prove his point, confused when Akira just laughed him off.

"Didn't I tell you that sometimes, we need a little pain to build character?" Akira proclaimed. "After all we've suffered, all we've fought for to bring her back, are you _seriously_ telling me you're going to chicken out _now_ of all times?!"

"I don't know _what_ I was thinking when I let you go ahead with phase four, _especially_ when you told me exactly what it was going to entail," Makoto growled. "But now? I don't want Yuuki to suffer any more than we've already made her. I'm done."

Akira just burst out laughing, a slightly unhinged-sounding laugh that began to bring back painful memories for Katelyn, as that's exactly how Souji had laughed at times during his madness.

"Okay, fine, _you_ can wuss out if you want, but _I'm_ going to see this through and bring Nanako back to life," Akira proclaimed, walking over to where Yuuki was crying and staring condescendingly down at her.

"You hear that, little AIDS girl?" Akira taunted, unaware of the glares everyone else was sending his way. "Your little boy-toy is going to fade away very soon, and there isn't a goddamn thing you can do about it."

To add insult to injury, Akira raised his fist as if to strike Yuuki, even amid Makoto's protests.

"Sorry, but this is just the way the world works," Akira cackled, lashing out to strike Yuuki...

...only for her to raise her own fist and catch Akira's in mid-swing.

"W-what?" Akira gasped.

"How _dare_ you," Yuuki proclaimed, lifting her gaze upwards.

No one present had ever seen such a positively _murderous_ expression on Yuuki before this. Asuna had even thought that Yuuki was mostly incapable of such rage.

But the look she was giving Akira spoke _volumes_ of Yuuki's despair and anger over what Akira was implying.

Before Akira could attempt to wrench himself free of Yuuki's iron grip, she twisted her own hand, and Akira yelped in pain as he felt his wrist dislocate, causing him to take a few steps back.

Yuuki immediately moved back to the crowd and snatched one of the shinais that Katelyn was using, but before she could protest, Yuuki was already charging back into the fray.

"You little bitch! How dare you break my wrist?!" Akira growled.

He had no clue how it happened, but he hadn't even seen Yuuki do it. One second he was holding his dislocated wrist, the next second he was sprawled on the ground with a large bruise already forming on his face.

"How dare _you_ break my _heart_ , you jerk?!" Yuuki shouted.

"You don't even know what heartbreak is, girl!" Akira shot back as he slowly got back on his feet.

That turned out to be a very big mistake on his part.

"Do you _really_ want me to run down the list?" Yuuki growled, advancing threateningly on Akira.

"Enlighten me," Akira taunted.

"Gladly," Yuuki shot back.

Akira readied himself, but Yuuki was surprisingly light on her feet, dashing forward with all the speed she could muster and jabbing the shinai into Akira's chest so hard, he felt like he'd actually been stabbed by a steel knife.

" _First_ , my fate gets decided for me when I'm born," Yuuki proclaimed, striking Akira in different spots with each word she emphasized. " _Second_ , people _ostracize_ me and make _fun_ of me just because of something I could _never control_! _Third_ , I lose both of my _parents_ and even my _sister_ to the same disease I have! And _fourth_ , and most importantly, you're trying to get rid of the wonderful boy I fell in love with!"

Yuuki finished the attack with a leaping whirlwind strike that rocked Akira's head back and caused him to land in a crumpled heap on the ground.

"I've endured more heartbreak than you _ever_ have!" Yuuki growled. "And the fact that I'm still here, _fighting_ that heartbreak despite everything, says more about me than it could ever say about you and your own methods! So don't you _dare_ lecture me on heartbreak, you ass!"

"Ah, the Absolute Sword has a mouth on her," Akira laughed.

"It's because of monsters like you!" Yuuki shot right back. "I think it's actually a lesson, though. If I start swearing, no matter how small it is, that means I'm mad. And _you don't want to make me mad._ "

Not willing to let Akira spout any more of his nonsense, Yuuki charged just as Akira was picking himself up, sweeping his legs out with a low spin kick before thrusting her free fist upwards in an uppercut (noting that Nick would probably shout "SHORYUKEN" as he did so) that smashed into Akira's jaw and sent him stumbling backwards.

Yuuki didn't let up, smashing her shinai into Akira's chest, then performing a spinning attack, then a downwards cross, every strike intent on inflicting as much pain as she possibly could.

Finally, Yuuki let out a loud shout as she slammed the shinai down onto Akira's head, snapping the blade off of the wooden sword on impact. This final blow drove Akira right back to the ground.

"Now _give me back my boyfriend_ before I _really_ decide to hurt you," Yuuki proclaimed, grabbing Akira by his shirt collar and yanking him back up so she could fix him with a death glare.

Even defeated as he was, Akira still laughed. "The program we activated should be taking its course any time now," Akira taunted. "I told you fools that you were wasting your time by fighting us."

"Start making sense!" Yuuki growled.

"You stupid girl... it's too late..."

Those words stunned Yuuki into silence.

* * *

Two more wind blades crashed into the ground where Nick had just been, carving blade-shaped trenches in the sandy beach. Nick was infinitely glad he could use his wings right now, as he floated just above the nearby house so he could get some space to assess the situation.

"Nanako, do we _really_ need to be doing this right now?!" Nick shouted. "I have someone who's probably worried sick about me waiting back IRL! So you'll have to forgive me if I end this duel right now!"

Nick flew back down to ground level, switching Element Saber's affinity to dark so he could unleash a new skill that Yuuki had helped him create.

Nanako attempted to counter by unleashing another wind blade, but Nick simply raised the Dreamcloud and blocked it, then taking two steps forward and slamming the Dreamcloud into Nanako's stomach, stumbling her enough for Nick to unleash his new Original Sword Skill, Ars Solum.

After raising Element Saber to the sky, Nick moved in and slashed at Nanako six times in wide, wavy patterns, Element Saber trailing dark energy with each swing.

Nick then leaped to perform a forward vertical spinning attack followed by a horizontal forward spin attack, both spins knocking Nanako backwards.

For the finale, Nick did another forward somersault into a spin attack, but ended the attack by slamming Element Saber's blade into the ground under Nanako and unleashing a shockwave of darkness that forced Nanako to her knees, her health down to only ten percent.

"Now are you going to let me go?" Nick proclaimed. "I don't think you want to continue this pointless battle."

Nanako clutched Bluster tightly, her hands shaking. "N-No... I won't give up! I'm _not_ going to disappoint Makoto!" Nanako shouted. "I swore I would never do that to him!"

Nick wisely put himself on his guard when he saw Bluster glowing bright red, indicating Nanako was preparing a Sword Skill of some kind.

"You're not going to stop me!" Nanako exclaimed. "Now have a taste of everything I've got! Hope you like _my_ Original Sword Skill!"

Nanako let the system guide her in the initial dash to Nick, but the rest of the actual attack, Blade Ballet, was all her.

Nanako started with a northwest slash, then a southeast slash, then a left horizontal slash, then a right horizontal slash, followed by a forward stab and a leaping overhead strike, then two upward spiral uppercut slashes, then two more forward stabs, an uppercut slash, then a fierce overhead slash. For the final attack, Nanako slashed Bluster in an X formation, then stabbed Bluster into the center of the X, following up by slashing in a cross pattern, then finishing up with a final overhead slash that created a shockwave of wind from the impact.

Nick stumbled back, clutching his chest from the ferocity of the attack, only to be shocked when he saw his health bar drain to nothing. He had been at least at half his health before Nanako had used Blade Ballet.

"I... I lost?" Nick gasped.

But as his avatar began to break apart, he could see Nanako walking up to him, a vaguely apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry," Nanako stated. "But... this is what Makoto told me to do."

For some reason, Nanako's avatar began to break apart as well, and Nick felt a strange sensation as his avatar exploded.

It felt like... something was trying to take over his mind.

Nick tried his best to fight the invasion of his mind, but realized that he was fighting a losing battle as his vision shut down.

Even so, Nick attempted to reach out to someone as his mind went completely silent, even if no one could hear him.

* * *

"You wanna retract that statement before we hurt you?!" Katelyn shouted, clutching the shinai she still had and aiming it right for Akira's grinning mug. "Now _where's Nick, you son of a bitch?!_ "

The sound of footsteps alerted everyone present to a new arrival.

At first, it looked like Nick, still clutching the NerveGear helmet he'd been accosted with earlier.

"Wait a minute, is that a NerveGear?!" Asuna exclaimed.

Yuuki took a few tentative steps forward, hoping beyond hope that Akira's plan hadn't come to fruition.

"N-Nick?" Yuuki asked hopefully. "Is that... is that you?"

Nick looked up at Yuuki...

...and his expression turned confused.

Then, he spoke in a voice that clearly wasn't his own.

"Sorry, but... I don't know anyone by that name. My name's Nanako, if you were wondering."

Yuuki was pretty sure that her heart had just shattered upon hearing that.

"Oh, no way," Suguha gasped. "Did they... actually do it?"

"You see, you fools?!" Akira laughed. "I told you! I tried to warn you that you were wasting time fighting us!"

"Are you really going on with those bombastic speeches of yours again?" Nanako laughed. "I thought you... ya know, _stopped_ that after SAO."

"Ehehehe... sorry, Nanako, force of habit," Akira admitted. "I guess it just never got old for me."

"Where are we going now?" Nanako asked, wanting to make sure that she remembered every step of their plan. "You said we had to go somewhere after I came back, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Akira quipped. Yes, everything was going smoothly. "We should probably get to the tower. We did say we'd all meet up there. Makoto, can you stay here and make sure they don't follow us?"

Makoto just glared hurtfully at Akira, glad that Nanako wasn't looking at him.

With that, Nanako and Akira turned around and made their way down the street towards the large tower in the distance.

The entire group was completely stunned, still wondering how this had actually happened.

"Okay, I'm confused," Ryotaro quipped. "How exactly is that chick talking through Nick's body?! Is that even possible?!"

Shoko took slow and careful steps, not wanting to upset Yuuki any more as she knelt down and hugged her tightly. Despite the hug, Yuuki couldn't take anymore, and burst into tears on the spot, her sorrowful wails reverberating through her very soul as she cried for her lost boyfriend.

Katelyn, however, screamed so loudly that it echoed throughout the nighttime streets, and dashed over to yank Makoto back to his feet by his shirt collar.

"What did you do, you son of a bitch?! How did you do it?! _What the hell happened to Nick, you monster?!_ " Katelyn screamed, almost reduced to tears.

"A-Akira created a program that would allow Nanako's AI to take over Nick's consciousness through that modified NerveGear that belonged to Akira," Makoto explained. "It would only work with a NerveGear, so that's why Akira saved his and modified it so our plan could work, but I _told_ him, I told him _hundreds_ of times that I was against this phase of his plan, but he never listens to me! I wanted Nanako back, yes, but not like _this_!"

"So, I'll say it again," Katelyn growled, not at all convinced. "Why did you _let him_?! Why do you keep _enabling_ him despite being against what he was planning?!"

Makoto just sighed in defeat, knowing that nothing he could say or do would convince them. "Love can drive a man to do crazy things," Makoto stated.

Not that Katelyn didn't know what that was like, but she still powerslammed Makoto to the ground, having long since lost her temper. Makoto had just stopped fighting, believing he was getting what he deserved.

"Give me _one good reason_ why I shouldn't just toss you to the police and let you rot in prison for the rest of your natural life, you heartless bastard!" Katelyn exclaimed.

"Because I might be able to help you undo it," Makoto answered. "If we can get you to Akira, I'll get him to reverse the process."

"And why should we trust you?!" Asuna proclaimed. "You tried to erase our friend from existence! You _honestly_ think that's something we can forgive you for?!"

"I don't expect you to ever forgive me," Makoto admitted. "When we're done here, you can toss me in jail for all I care. I deserve it, honestly."

"What about Yuuki?" Shoko stated firmly. "Look at what you did to her. Was _this_ worth it?!"

After taking another glance at Yuuki's tears, Makoto again felt that pain in his heart that made him realize how badly he'd screwed up by letting his love for Nanako blind his judgment.

"...no, it wasn't worth it," Makoto admitted. "Because I never wanted _this_ to happen. I never wanted to inflict the pain of losing somebody you love. I wish I'd figured it out sooner, but this isn't how I wanted it. I'll take you to the tower they're going to, and one way or another, I'll _make_ him fix this mess."

"What do you think, guys?" Shino asked. "Should we trust him?"

"We pretty much have no choice if we're gonna get Nick back," Suguha stated. "But I say we keep an eye on Makoto just in case this is a trap."

"I'd expect it, honestly," Makoto proclaimed. "Akira's probably expecting you all to come after him, so I'd expect some resistance."

Yuuki looked up, her tears still falling. "C-Can we... can we really get Nick back?" Yuuki sobbed.

"I'm so sorry, Yuuki," Makoto stated. "I'm so very sorry that I put you through this. I never wanted to break your heart. But as far as I'm aware, the program hasn't taken permanent effect yet. If we can get that NerveGear back onto Nick's head within two hours and de-fragment Nanako's AI, it should erase her from Nick's mind and allow him to take his body back."

"And you're _sure_ that's how it'll work?" Rika challenged.

"I helped him create the program, so I know how to undo it, too," Makoto stated. "We just have to get to the tower. I'll take you all there. We'll have to be careful, though, since I'm pretty sure, like I said, Akira's probably going to be expecting us. I don't know who or what he's going to put in our way."

To everyone's surprise, Yuuki stood up, wiping her tears away before facing towards the tower in the distance. "All right. We don't have much time, you guys. Let's get to the tower _now_."

"Now _that's_ what I wanted to hear!" Rika proclaimed. "Let's get the lead out, peoples!"

Yuuki let one last tear fall before steeling herself. _You hear me, Nick? I'm coming for you. Don't leave me behind, okay?_

It took the entire group roughly thirty minutes to get to the tower itself, which was an old telegraph tower that had been used for broadcasting long ago.

"This the place?" Ryotaro asked.

"Yes, this should be it," Makoto answered. "He'll probably be waiting for us on the top of the tower, so we should probably start climbing so we don't waste any more time."

And so they did, beginning their ascent of the telegraph tower.

"Ooh, this place is creepy," Keiko stated, shivering slightly due to a combination of the slightly chilly nighttime weather and an odd sense of dread about the tower.

"Don't you worry," Rika quipped, patting Keiko's shoulder. "We've got your back as long as you've got ours."

Keiko nodded, feeling her confidence swelling already.

As the group continued to climb the tower, they noticed a sign on one of the doors that led into a large open room, most likely formerly an office space for the people who worked at the tower.

And someone was waiting for them at the center of the room.

It was a girl about Asuna's age, with short, bowl-shaped brown hair and similar brown eyes, wearing a green jacket over her school uniform.

"I don't suppose you're just going to let us through, huh?" Rika quipped.

"Too true," the new girl responded. "Honestly, I don't know what exactly he's doing up there, but hey, Akira's a buddy of mine, and anyone who threatens him is gonna get a world-class butt-kicking! Chie's the name, so don't you forget it!"

Ryotaro didn't actually get to make a sarcastic quip before Yuuki walked a few steps towards Chie, raising her own fists.

"I'm only going to say this once," Yuuki proclaimed. " _Get out of our way_. I've got someone up there that needs me."

"Well, sorry, but I have my... well, should I say 'orders'?" Chie asked. "More like I'm doing him a favor. But enough of that. Let's see what you've got, girlie!"

Yuuki clenched her fists as Chie advanced. "All right, then, you asked for it!" Yuuki shouted. "Don't say I didn't warn you!"

Both Chie and Yuuki rushed forward at the same time, Chie aiming a flying kick for Yuuki, only for her to raise her arm to block it and knock Chie back with a double forward punch to the chest.

Chie cut a flip in mid-tumble to regain her footing and charge straight back into the fray, this time trying to sweep Yuuki off of her feet, only for Yuuki to dodge by leaping forwards into the air so she could slam Chie into the ground with a double-fisted overhead smash attack.

"Now _move_!" Yuuki exclaimed as Chie leaped back to her feet. "I'm not letting your 'buddy' take my boyfriend away from me!"

"W-wait, 'boyfriend'?" Chie asked. She hadn't heard _that_ part of this whole shtick.

This distraction gave Yuuki all the time she needed to bash into Chie with a shoulder tackle, sending her crashing to the ground.

"Ow, I fell on my butt again..." Chie groaned.

"And _stay down_ ," Yuuki proclaimed, running forward to leap over the downed Chie, only for her to reach out and grab Yuuki's legs in mid-jump, causing her to fall down to the ground with a surprised yelp. "Okay, so we're doing this the hard way..."

Chie jumped forward to aim a punch downward, but Yuuki rolled away so that Chie's fist only hit the concrete floor. Once Yuuki was back on her feet, she lashed out with a spinning punch attack, replicating a move she liked to do in ALO, only for Chie to block it with her fists.

Chie was about to retaliate, only to realize too late that Yuuki had actually expected her to block that attack. Chie could only curse her own carelessness as Yuuki struck her upside the head with a flying spin kick that sent her stumbling quite a ways back.

"Now _stay out of my way_!" Yuuki exclaimed, making a break for the other side of the room and the next set of stairs that would lead her higher up the tower.

"H-Hey, Yuuki, wait for us!" Asuna shouted as the rest of the group chased after Yuuki.

As Chie recovered herself and watched the group continue their ascent, she couldn't help but wonder what Yuuki meant. By 'boyfriend', did she mean that boy she'd seen Akira arrive with? She'd never seen that other boy before today, after all.

"How much time do we have, Makoto?" Yuuki asked.

"About an hour and ten minutes," Makoto answered. "We're not too much farther from the top, to be honest."

"Let's hope so," Shino proclaimed. "That jerk's got a lot to answer for."

Yuuki continued to push all of the negative thoughts out of her head as they approached the top of the tower. She was definitely scared of what could happen to Nick, but she also knew she couldn't let that affect her right now. She would cry for him once they got him back.

 _After all, Nick, you're my first love, and don't people say that your first love is always special?_ Yuuki thought. _Please wait for me, okay, Nick? I'm on my way._

Thankfully, it only took about ten more minutes to reach the summit of the telegraph tower, and Yuuki was the one to do the honors and kick the last door open. The door in question was actually quite weak due to years of rust and inactivity, so when Yuuki actually kicked it, the rusty hinges snapped and caused the door to crash to the ground, alerting Akira and Nanako to their presence. For some odd reason, Akira was wearing his Amusphere.

"So, the prodigal rescue team arrives," Akira cackled. "I figured you'd find me eventually."

"The game's over, Akira," Kazuto proclaimed. "You might as well give it up."

"After coming so far?! You can all kiss my ass!" Akira shouted.

"Would you rather we all _kick_ it?!" Rika shot back, raising her fists.

"You really have no clue what's happening here, do you?" Akira proclaimed, spreading his arms wide. "He's gone, you know! The boy is _never_ coming back!"

"You're wrong, Akira," Makoto shot right back. "I know how to undo the program and get him back. I _helped_ you create it, after all."

"You're really going to side with these numbnuts over your friend and hopefully soon-to-be _girlfriend_?!" Akira gasped dramatically. "What lies did they brainwash you with, dude?!"

"They only 'brainwashed' me with the truth!" Makoto shouted. "This isn't how I wanted her back, and I've told you that what must be a _thousand times_!"

Akira silently instructed Nanako to sit on the table with the NerveGear as he stepped closer to the group.

"I really thought this was going to go well," Akira laughed.

"No, _I_ was foolish for thinking that you actually had a good _reason_ for wanting to do it this way!" Makoto growled. "Don't you even realize that what you're doing is worse than what Souji was doing?!"

"Even if that's true, I've come too far to stop now," Akira replied. "So how about you all do me a favor and traipse right back down that tower so I can go about my work?"

Akira was so caught up in his speech that he didn't even notice Yuuki practically waltzing up to him until it was too late and she socked him in the face with a right hook, knocking the Amusphere off of his head.

"No, how about _you_ get back up so we can all have a piece of you?" Yuuki shot back.

Akira did so, jumping back to his feet and shifting into a fighting stance. "Then have at me, girl!"

Yuuki let out a scream of pure rage, something even Yuuki herself didn't know she was capable of, and threw herself at Akira, punching him three times in the chest before knocking him back down to the ground with her favorite attack, the flying spin kick.

"Get up," Yuuki growled. "I'm not done with you yet!"

Yuuki didn't waste any time, moving to yank Akira back to his feet before kicking him in the stomach, followed by another uppercut to the jaw and then a downward punch that caused him to crash into the guard rail at the edge of the area.

Before Yuuki could make another move, Akira got back to his feet and jumped over another kick from Yuuki, landing on the top of the guard rail.

"Get down here so I can stomp you!" Yuuki exclaimed. "You've got _so much_ to answer for, and I intend to see that you do!"

"Ever the bombastic one, Absolute Sword!" Akira cackled. "By all means, do entertain me!"

The distant sound of sirens from below caught Akira's attention, and he cast a glance down to the ground, actually shocked at the myriad red and blue lights of the Yokohama police gathering at the base of the tower.

"W-what the hell are the police doing here?!" Akira proclaimed.

"I called them on the way here," Makoto answered. "Better safe than sorry, am I right, 'partner'?"

"Just accept it, Akira. It's over," Asuna stated. "Just surrender to the police and no one will have to get hurt."

Akira quickly realized that he was backed into a corner, with no possible way out of this... except one.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Akira responded. "I'd rather _die_ than let this world pass judgment on me! You'll have to get me to surrender in _hell_!"

The instant Yuuki saw Akira lift his foot, she moved forward to stop him, but she was just a second too late, reaching the guard rail only to see Akira fall backwards and downwards into the empty air.

"D-D-Did he just...?" Keiko gasped.

Yuuki just stood there in shock, wondering why Akira chose to end it like that, and pointedly tuning out the sound she heard about fifteen seconds later.

"W-wait, why did he jump?!" Suguha shouted. "He wasn't suicidal, was he?"

"He probably didn't want to be taken in," Makoto admitted. "I've seen it far too many times on the news."

Makoto once again checked his watch. "We have exactly an hour. If we can get Nick back to the laboratory, I can start work on wiping the program."

"Wait, wouldn't that leave us even _less_ time?!" Ryotaro proclaimed. "It took us half an hour to get here and at least _another_ half-hour to get all the way up here! If it takes us that long to get back to the laboratory, we might not make it in time!"

"Oh, crap, you're right, Klein," Kazuto cursed. "I don't know if we can, considering we haven't actually gone to the processing plant yet..."

"Um... what exactly is going on?" Nanako asked, sounding both confused and scared. "Why did Akira just... why did he commit suicide? And why is everyone..."

Yuuki sighed heavily, not even having to glance back at Makoto to know that he was taking it pretty hard that he'd have to lose the only chance he'd ever have of having the girl he loved back. She could tell in the tone of his voice.

So she figured it was up to him to get the ball rolling.

"Nanako, listen to me," Yuuki proclaimed. "I'm going to tell you the truth. You're not the real Nanako, just an artificial intelligence in her likeness."

"I-I know that," Nanako replied, actually surprising Yuuki. "Makoto told me that when I woke up for the first time, that the girl I'm based on died back in Sword Art Online."

"Good, that means we can skip a few steps," Yuuki continued. "The long and short of it is, when you fought Nick earlier, you actually triggered a program that Akira created, and... well, to be blunt, your mind and consciousness is inside of Nick's body. You're effectively taking over his body."

Despite Nanako's shock, Yuuki continued her explanation, hoping to get the message through to her before Nick effectively ceased to exist.

"We only have about an hour before the program that Akira used goes into permanent effect and... before I lose Nick forever," Yuuki stated, holding back tears. "Which means that... we need you to leave Nick's body."

Yuuki wasn't particularly surprised when Nanako seemed to react with affront at that. "But... I was promised a body I could walk around in, one that I could actually use in the real world..."

Yuuki sighed. This wasn't getting them anywhere.

"Wait, you two, I have an idea on how you can settle this," Makoto stated, catching both Nanako and Yuuki's attention. "How about you two have one final battle with each other in ALfheim Online to settle the score?"

Yuuki clenched her fist tightly. "I can do that."

"Isn't there any other way?" Nanako asked.

"Nanako... I love him," Yuuki proclaimed. "If you stay in his body, you'll only cause me so much pain. And... I don't think I could handle it..."

Nanako looked at Yuuki's face, just mere seconds away from bursting into another crying fit like she had back in the city. If Makoto had taught her one thing, it was to never inflict the pain of loss on anybody.

"...all right," Nanako conceded. "We'll have one more duel in the game. And if I lose... I promise you I'll give Nick his body back."

"Okay, so how is Yuuki going to get to ALO before our time is up?" Keiko wondered. "I don't think any of us has a spare Amusphere on us..."

Yuuki, however, just smirked as she walked over to the guard rail and picked up the Amusphere that had been knocked off of Akira before his untimely demise.

"I can use that," Yuuki quipped. "I'll stay up here with Nanako until we're done."

"There's a service elevator nearby here that can take me down to the ground floor," Makoto answered. "Once Nanako and Yuuki have logged on, I'll take Nick back to our laboratory in the processing plant so I can undo the program if Yuuki wins."

"Hold on, how will you know who wins or not?" Asuna asked even as Yuuki and Nanako donned their respective VR devices at the same time before sitting down against the concrete wall by the guard rails.

"My own Amusphere is back in the lab," Makoto replied. "I'll log on myself to watch the fight play out."

"I guess... we'll see you guys on the other side," Yuuki stated. "Hopefully Nick will be back once it's all over."

"Yuuki? I'm sorry that it had to come to this," Makoto admitted.

"At least _you_ came to your senses in time," Yuuki stated. "If only Akira could have been that lucky..."

Yuuki forced herself to focus. It was the time for the fight of her life, after all.

"LINK START!" Yuuki and Nanako shouted at the same time.

* * *

Once Yuuki opened her eyes and found herself back in the main capital of Eversummer, she gazed around to make sure Nanako was nearby.

And she was, standing just near the Teleport Gate in the avatar she'd had when Nick had dueled Makoto before.

"Is there... anywhere specific you want to have our battle?" Nanako asked. "Because I can go wherever."

Yuuki thought for a few seconds. "How about we take this to the field just outside Dahngrest on floor thirty? That place... means a lot to me."

"Fine by me," Nanako stated as Yuuki joined her at the Teleport Gate.

"All right, let's do this. Teleport: Dahngrest!"

Rings of light surrounded Yuuki and Nanako before teleporting them away, just missing the fact that the Sleeping Knights had been trying to signal her.

After reaching Dahngrest, Yuuki led Nanako to the fields just outside of the city, most notably to the point where the raid party had been discussing how to tackle the floor thirty labyrinth.

"This area of the field is where Nick confessed to me so long ago," Yuuki admitted. "I figured it'd be as good a place as any for our big final battle."

"That's so romantic," Nanako giggled even as she sent Yuuki a request for a Total Loss duel with no time limit.

"Just saying 'I love you' to him couldn't even begin to describe how much I love him, honestly," Yuuki stated. "That's why I'll fight with all I have to get him back."

Yuuki decided that she wasn't going to waste any more time, accepting Nanako's duel request and drawing her sword as the duel countdown began.

Nanako drew Bluster and settled in, ready to fight.

Makoto watched from afar, close enough that he could watch the battle and know when to act, but far enough away so that he wouldn't get caught in the crossfire he knew was about to erupt.

Once the duel countdown finished, Yuuki and Nanako simply raised their weapons and charged each other.

 _To be continued..._

* * *

On the next episode...

Yuuki: All right, Nanako, let's do this thing!

Katelyn: Well, looks like this is it, everybody! The final battle is underway!

Yuuki: I'll show you why they call me the Absolute Sword! I won't lose to you, Nanako!

Nanako: Don't underestimate me, either, Yuuki! I defeated Nick, after all!

Yuuki: ...yeah, maybe you did, but I'm a _lot_ stronger than him. And he _knows_ it, heh.

Shoko: I'm worried, guys. What if... what if Yuuki...

Katelyn: She won't lose.

Shoko: I know, but what if...

Katelyn: _She won't lose_ , Shoko. This is _Yuuki_ we're talking about, ALfheim Online's Absolute Sword! There's no way in _hell_ she'll lose! No mere _player_ can best her!

Yuuki: ...Katie, you're flattering me here. Next time on _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:_ , "Journey's End"!

Nick and Yuuki: This may be a game, but it's not something you play!


	12. Journey's End

Makoto just stood there from his hiding spot as he watched the duel countdown continue to tick downwards, knowing what he would most likely have to do once this was all over.

He had worked so hard to find _some_ way, if any, to bring Nanako back to life, despite knowing what Akira had been planning behind his back, rest his soul.

He had loved her so much back in Sword Art Online, despite Souji's protests, which made him laugh even now. Souji had often threatened to, in Souji's own words, "stab you in places you didn't even know you had" if he did anything "funny" with Nanako.

Even now, Makoto knew that Souji wasn't truly threatening him, as they were all still friends, despite being trapped in a game that would kill you for real if you died. Souji was just protective of his sister, and for good reason.

Eventually, Souji had mostly relented due to getting to know Makoto better and understanding that he wasn't one for any "funny business", again Souji's words.

Makoto still remembered their first date like it had only been yesterday. He had taken her to see all of the beautiful flowers that grew in floor forty-seven's capital, Floria, even taking her on a trip through the Hill of Memories.

Alongside watching Nanako tear through those fly-trap monsters like it was nothing, Makoto still remembered her child-like wonder at the flower gardens.

But the moment that Makoto remembered the clearest, and still cherished to this day, was the fact that, at the edge of the Hill of Memories' largest garden, he and Nanako had shared their first kiss.

Sadly, it was only a few days later that Souji had given him the news that Nanako had perished in the dungeon she and Souji had been in. Makoto had been both devastated at Nanako's death and scared that Souji would blame him for her death, even as Souji admitted they had just gotten in way over their heads.

Once they had been freed from SAO, Makoto and Akira had mostly lost contact with Souji, only to see him again when he had changed so drastically, now naming himself Phantom after his SAO character.

Makoto simply shook his head, not wanting to go down that line of thought.

As the countdown finally ended, and Yuuki and Nanako lunged for each other, Makoto steeled his nerves, hoping he would be able to let her go without collapsing into a broken mess.

* * *

(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)

 **The Blue Time Ranger** is proud to present...  
 _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:  
_ **Story Created:** January 24th, 2018  
 **Story Rated:** T for Teen

 **Story Summary:** What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?

 **On Today's Episode:** With less than an hour remaining to undo the program and get Nick back, Yuuki and Nanako have decided to settle the issue with one last duel to decide who gets to keep Nick's body in the end. Yuuki will have to fight with everything she's got, as Nanako, despite being nowhere near as experienced as Yuuki, is still a tough customer. After all, she was able to defeat Nick. Who will come out on top in this final battle?

 **Insert Song Notes:** There are two insert songs in today's episode, one for each phase of the final battle. Phase one's song is "The End of All –Below-" sung by Renka (Japanese) and Rena Strober (English) and phase two's song is "Lost in the Waves" sung by Yoshimasa Hosoya & Renka (Japanese) and Matthew Mercer & Rena Strober (English), both songs being from Fire Emblem Fates. And yes, that also means that the song Nanako always sung to Souji (and the one she sung in episode eight) was "if ~hitori omou~" / "Lost in Thoughts All Alone" by Renka (Japanese) and Rena Strober (English).

 **Author's Question:** I've been wondering this since I wrote the original Memory Rosario, but... does Yuuki's sword have a name? Can anyone help me there?

 **And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I _did_ own Sword Art Online, which I _don't_ , why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

* * *

Episode 12: Journey's End

 **("The End of All –Below-" by Hiroki Morishita and Renka / Rena Strober plays)**

Yuuki immediately leaped back as Nanako swung Bluster at her, landing a few steps away as she raised her hands. Nanako made it a point to charge in and attack while Yuuki was seemingly vulnerable, only to quickly rethink that decision as Yuuki unleashed her Ethereal Blades spell, the amethyst crescent blades battering Nanako and driving her back.

Thankful she hadn't taken too much damage, Nanako retaliated by unleashing a Razor Wind, a trio of wind-based sword beams. Yuuki deftly dodged all of the attacks before moving in to attack up close.

Nanako simply raised Bluster to block the attack Yuuki sent her way, countering with a spinning slash that caused Yuuki to stumble back, though she quickly regained her footing.

"Impressive, Yuuki," Nanako admitted.

"Thanks, but I'm just gettin' started!" Yuuki shouted.

Yuuki rushed forward even as Nanako did the same with a Qiong-Ji. Yuuki quickly raised her sword to block the skill, then retaliated with one of her own, a point-blank Sharp Nail that drove Nanako to her knees.

As Yuuki raised her sword to strike again, Nanako jumped to her feet and leaped backwards to avoid retaliation, using the delay in Yuuki's strike to cast a defense buff on herself.

"You _really_ think buffing your defense is gonna stop me?!" Yuuki challenged, raising her sword and slashing at Nanako with an uppercut, then following up with a Drop Dash, hoping to keep the pressure on.

Nanako waited until Yuuki was close before unleashing a Zangetsu, a horizontal shockwave attack that pushed Yuuki away, the blade just barely clipping her shoulder as she dodged.

Nanako went on the offensive, taking advantage of Yuuki's opening to slash at her multiple times.

To Nanako's surprise, however, Yuuki broke out of the assault and slashed Nanako's shoulder, stopping the barrage so she could blast Nanako back with a Horizontal Square.

Once Nanako had recovered, both combatants decided to check their health. Yuuki was at about eighty-five percent of her total health, while Nanako was at about seventy-five percent.

"You're just as strong as everyone says you are, you know," Nanako quipped.

"Yeah, well, I'm fighting to get my boyfriend back," Yuuki stated. "And you'd be surprised what you can do for love!"

Not giving Nanako a chance to predict her attack, Yuuki rushed forward, juking left and right randomly to keep Nanako guessing, and as Nanako moved Bluster to defend one way, Yuuki moved to the other side and performed a flying spin kick (she really liked that move for some reason) to knock Nanako down to the ground.

While Nanako was stumbling and trying to reorient herself, Yuuki cast Dimensional Abyss to keep Nanako locked in place.

"You're mine!" Yuuki shouted, dashing towards Nanako, only to gasp in surprise when she saw Nanako push her way out of the Dimensional Abyss spell and raise Bluster, the blade glowing red.

"You wanted me to give it my all, right, Yuuki?!" Nanako shouted. "Well, here you go!"

In her own surprise, Yuuki couldn't dodge in time and was knocked back even as Nanako pursued to unleash her Original Sword Skill.

Nanako started with a northwest slash, then a southeast slash, then a left horizontal slash, then a right horizontal slash, followed by a forward stab and a leaping overhead strike, then two upward spiral uppercut slashes, then two more forward stabs, an uppercut slash, then a fierce overhead slash. For the final attack, Nanako slashed Bluster in an X formation, then stabbed Bluster into the center of the X, following up by slashing in a cross pattern, then finishing up with a final overhead slash that created a shockwave of wind from the impact.

Yuuki clutched the spot on her chest where Nanako had assaulted her with Blade Ballet, noticing that her health was down to about fifty-one percent.

 _Remember, Yuuki, this is a Total Loss duel,_ Yuuki thought. _So this is gonna go all the way to the end._

Yuuki looked up just in time to see Nanako slicing through the air, Bluster aimed directly for her. Yuuki quickly raised her sword to block the attack, then reoriented herself and pushed Nanako back with another Ethereal Blades attack.

"Don't underestimate me, Nanako!" Yuuki proclaimed. "The only reason you got me with that attack was because I wasn't expecting you to have an OSS of your own. I won't fall for that again!"

"Well, Blade Ballet _is_ how I beat Nick," Nanako admitted, surprised to see Yuuki getting angry over that simple statement.

"Ooh, you're gonna _pay_ for that one!" Yuuki growled, casting a spell to buff her own defense before charging forward with every intent on skewering Nanako's avatar on the point of her blade.

Nanako attempted to keep Yuuki away with another Razor Wind, but Yuuki simply dodged through the wind blades and stabbed Nanako in the chest, driving the younger girl to the ground. Yuuki quickly yanked her sword back out, causing Nanako to clutch her chest in pain and her health to drop to about half.

"Jeez, all I said was that Blade Ballet was how I won before..." Nanako gasped. "You didn't have to stab me like that..."

"Well, _excuse me_ for wanting my boyfriend back!" Yuuki shot back. "And we _are_ in the middle of a duel, aren't we?"

Nanako stood up, knowing she couldn't just heal herself due to duel rules, and decided to unfold her Sylph wings. "Then... how about we take it to the sky for round two?" Nanako offered.

"Fine by me," Yuuki responded, unfolding her Imp wings so both players could take to the skies, unaware of the crowd that had gathered around their battle area, the Sleeping Knights included.

"Wait, is this why she just left with that girl?" Nori asked. "Just so they could have a duel? Am I missing something here?"

"Well, Yuuki looked very serious about this battle, so maybe she knows something we don't," Jun quipped.

"I hope Yuuki can win," Siune admitted. "They're both at half health."

"What, like she'll _lose_?" Tecchi laughed. "This is _Yuuki_ we're talking about! She's the Absolute Sword! No mere _player_ can defeat her!"

"I hope so," Siune stated.

 **("Lost in the Waves" by Hiroki Morishita and Yoshimasa Hosoya & Renka / Matthew Mercer & Rena Strober plays)**

"Well, Nanako, you ready to take it up a notch?" Yuuki proclaimed.

"Show me your best, Yuuki!" Nanako responded.

And with that, they clashed blades once again.

Nanako tried a spiral slash, only for Yuuki to swiftly counter it with a forward stab attack. Not to be deterred, Nanako unleashed another Razor Wind, only for Yuuki to do a shuttle loop around the wind blades and push Nanako backwards with a Vorpal Strike, sending her for a loop.

Nanako simply recovered quickly and flew upwards until she was right above Yuuki, then went into another Katana skill, Shitamuki-zashi, a super-fast downward stab attack.

Yuuki quickly moved away, even though her shoulder still got clipped by the attack due to how fast Nanako was falling.

When Nanako landed and jammed Bluster into the ground below (it was part of the skill), Yuuki saw her opportunity to attack, flying back down towards Nanako as she tried to get her katana unstuck.

"Now eat some of this!" Yuuki exclaimed, performing a Horizontal Square followed by a Drop Dash, knocking Nanako's health down to about thirty-five percent.

Nanako flipped back to her feet, then took off into the air again with Yuuki in hot pursuit.

"Stop running from me, dang it!" Yuuki shouted, firing off a barrage of Ethereal Blades only for Nanako to tank them all, her health dropping to about thirty percent before she rushed back in and spun through the air with another Qiong-Ji. Yuuki spun around to avoid it before pursuing Nanako once again.

 _I think I need to get her below twenty-five percent before I can end this,_ Yuuki thought.

Nanako flew back around and rushed Yuuki with an overhead slash from Bluster that sent Yuuki crashing back to the ground.

Recovering quickly, Yuuki and Nanako clashed with each other again, only for Nanako to swiftly spin around, leap back, and charge back towards her, Bluster's blade glowing red.

 _Not this time,_ Yuuki thought, juking to the side as Nanako unleashed Blade Ballet, only to miss completely thanks to Yuuki's last-second dodge.

Yuuki waited until the attack was finished to move in and slash her sword across Nanako's back, causing her to cry out in pain and her health to drop to about twenty-three percent.

 _Perfect!_ Yuuki thought, readying her sword.

"Oh, no," Nanako gasped, realizing she was in trouble.

"You bet your cute _face_ you're in trouble!" Yuuki shouted, the blade of her sword glowing a bright purple. "You should have thought twice before underestimating my own potential! Now _say goodbye!_ "

Before Nanako could do anything, Yuuki readied her weapon and stabbed outwards five times, creating a horizontal line down Nanako's chest. Yuuki spun around and stabbed out five more times, creating another line going the opposite way, both lines forming a sort of X. Finally, Yuuki reared back and thrust her sword forward with a loud battle cry, driving the point of her blade straight into the center of the X she'd formed with her earlier sword stabs. Purple light exploded from Nanako's wounds upon impact, throwing the Sylph back to the ground with her health completely drained.

Nanako looked up as Yuuki descended to the ground, even as her avatar began to break apart. Wasn't this exactly what had happened before with Nick?

To Nanako's surprise, Yuuki didn't seem to be angry at all, the rush of battle fading to be replaced with a sadness that looked a lot like it had in the real world.

"Please, Nanako... I just want my boyfriend back..." Yuuki sighed.

Nanako, in response, just smiled. "A promise is a promise, right? I'll give him back to you, Yuuki. You deserve to be happy with him. Just promise me one thing, Yuuki."

"W-what's that?" Yuuki asked, a little surprised at Nanako's request.

"Please... don't forget about me," Nanako asked. "I really think... we could have been great friends if I had lived to today, Yuuki."

"From what Makoto and Akira told us about you, you really sound like quite a sweetheart, Nanako," Yuuki admitted. "I really wished we could have met under better circumstances."

"Just... keep me in your memory... that's all I could ask for..."

With that, Nanako had spoken her last, her avatar exploding into shards of light.

Unseen by anyone due to the crowd, Makoto logged himself out the instant Nanako's avatar had disintegrated, ready to do what he had to do.

"Holy crap, Yuuki, what's been _happening_?!" Nori exclaimed as she and the rest of the Sleeping Knights rushed up to Yuuki now that the battle was over. "Why did you just up and _disappear_ after you all came back from the Squad Jam?! And who was _that_ girl?!"

Yuuki just laughed in response. "Honestly, it's quite the story," Yuuki answered. "But I have to leave for a bit, so I'll tell you when I get back, okay?"

Without waiting for a response, Yuuki opened her menu to log out, hoping she'd be seeing Nick soon enough.

* * *

Makoto's fingers typed furiously at the keyboard in front of him, inputting the commands that would de-fragment Nanako's AI and remove her from Nick's mind, making sure to take one last look at the dissolving image of his former lover before she faded from existence entirely.

He knew that this was going to be the part that hurt the most. But he'd promised, after all.

As he thought back on the memories he'd shared with Nanako, he heard a groan from just behind him. It seemed like Nick was waking up.

Makoto, his job done, took the flash drive out of the computer and shut it down as Nick sat up, shaking his head despite the heavy NerveGear that was still on said head.

"Ugh... mother of all headaches..." Nick groaned in his own voice. Makoto sighed in relief. He was back.

Nick opened his eyes and spotted Makoto, only for his eyes to fling open in surprise, then narrow immediately after in obvious anger.

 _Here it comes,_ Makoto thought.

"The fact that I'm still here after everything that just happened is the _only_ reason I'm not punching you out right off the bat," Nick proclaimed as he removed the NerveGear from his head. "You have _five seconds_ to start explaining yourself."

"I guess you deserve that, at least," Makoto admitted. "The truth is, Nick, it's over. Nanako's gone."

"Wait, _gone_? Did she get erased or something?" Nick wondered. "I thought that whatever she did to my body was permanent!"

"Blame me for that," Makoto stated. "The program would have taken two hours to fully take hold of you, but... your girlfriend fought and defeated Nanako just a few minutes ago in ALO, and Nanako promised she'd give your body back if she lost. That's what I was doing just before you woke up, de-fragmenting her AI and erasing her from your mind."

"Okay, so... if all this is true, where _is_ Yuuki?" Nick stated.

"She's most likely still on top of the tower with the others," Makoto answered.

"Tower? Wait, you mean that old telegraph tower that's been abandoned for years?" Nick gasped. "What would they be doing up there?"

"...it was Akira," Makoto stated. "He was the one who took Nanako to the top of that tower for some reason, most likely to stall for time until the program took permanent effect. Yuuki and a bunch of her friends from ALO grouped up to find you and stop him."

"And where _is_ your partner?" Nick continued.

"He's not my partner anymore," Makoto proclaimed. "I... I finally realized what I was doing when Nanako came to us in your body, and I realized that you were right. This wasn't what Nanako would have wanted. So, I led Yuuki and her friends to the tower so we could stop Akira and get you back. We eventually cornered him at the very top of the tower, but... he couldn't stand the idea of being taken in for what he did, and he... he jumped off of the tower."

"Jeez..." Nick stated. "Let me ask you something, though. If you _knew_ this was wrong and that Nanako wouldn't have wanted this... why did you let Akira do it?"

"Katelyn asked me that too many times," Makoto replied. "All I can say is that when you're in love, it can make you do crazy things."

"Okay, one more question," Nick responded. "Am I allowed to leave now, since your plan is basically in ruins?"

"I don't intend to keep you any longer," Makoto answered. "I just brought you back to the lab so I could erase Nanako's AI if Yuuki won that battle. We should probably get you back there before Yuuki freaks out or something."

"That sounds like a plan to me," Nick quipped before getting off of the table he was laying on, only to stop a few steps later when he glanced back at the NerveGear that rested on the edge of the table.

He looked back at Makoto, who just nodded to him as if expecting what he was going to ask. Nick took the NerveGear and placed it on the floor, then raised his right foot, and with one swift stomp, smashed the NerveGear in half.

"There. Now let's _please_ get out of this dank place," Nick stated.

Makoto gladly obliged, leading Nick out of the laboratory and back out onto the night-soaked streets of Yokohama, happy to be leaving that place behind once and for all.

After about ten minutes, Nick was the first to notice a large group approaching them. And thankfully, Nick didn't have to automatically set himself on edge, since he recognized everyone from ALO.

Naturally, Yuuki was the first to step forward, looking like she'd felt enough despair and heartache to last her the rest of her life.

Nick knew it must have been due to worrying about him.

"N-Nick?" Yuuki asked, taking another step forward and hoping that Nick actually responded this time. "Is... is that really you?"

Nick decided right then and there not to keep his girlfriend hanging.

"You know, I never noticed this before, Yuuki, but... you look good in my clothes," Nick quipped. "Am I _really_ that fashionable and didn't even know it?"

That was enough for Yuuki, who almost burst into tears right there as she rushed towards Nick, only to stop a few steps before him and _leap_ forward, outright throwing herself at him.

Luckily, Nick had anticipated this, and opened his arms to catch Yuuki as she flung herself through the air to land in Nick's arms, squealing in surprise as Nick spun her around before returning her embrace.

"A little birdie told me that you've been through a _lot_ in the past couple hours," Nick quipped.

"I can't believe you can even _joke_ right now," Yuuki laughed.

"Hey, the fact that I _can_ joke means that we're all right," Nick replied. "We both did good today, okay, silly? I know it must have been hard for you."

"I was so scared, Nick," Yuuki admitted, letting a few tears fall after all. "I really thought I was going to lose you for good..."

"But you didn't lose me, Yuuki," Nick answered. "I promised I'd always stay by your side, and that's a promise you _know_ I'm hell-bent on keeping. Remember our motto?"

Nick and Yuuki recited their motto together. "Suffer not in defeat, for it only makes you stronger in the end."

"When Nanako told me she'd actually defeated you, I almost lost it, Nick," Yuuki admitted. "I didn't want to accept the fact that I was going to lose you... my heart couldn't take that..."

"You won't lose me, Yuuki," Nick repeated, holding his girlfriend close as if letting go meant losing her forever. "I mean that."

Nick and Yuuki leaned in for a kiss, only to be knocked to the ground by Katelyn glomping both of them.

"E-easy, Katie!" Yuuki gasped.

"Yeah, I've had enough of getting knocked on my butt today," Nick quipped.

"Sorry, sorry! I'm just... I'm just so happy to have my buddy back!" Katelyn cried. "I was scared of losing you, too!"

Even Shoko decided to join in the group hug. "We all were," Shoko admitted. "That's why we all decided to group up and storm the enemy base just to save your butt, Nick. You've got a great bunch of friends looking out for you, ya know?"

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again," Nick responded. "I really do have the best friends ever."

"And that includes _us_ now, you hear me?" Rika teased. "We risked our butts to save you, so that means you owe us big time, buddy!"

"Rika, seriously, don't go _there_..." Asuna sighed.

"Oh, he knows I'm just teasing him," Rika laughed. "Seriously, though, if you _ever_ need our help, just call us, okay, Nick? We'll be there faster than you can say 'Starburst Stream'!"

Yeah!" Keiko giggled. "Any friends of Asuna are our friends, too!"

"You _definitely_ got that right," Shino quipped.

"Well, I think we need to get Yuuki back to the hospital before her doc has a cow," Shoko stated.

"Oh, he knows I'm out," Yuuki laughed. "I kinda begged him to let me come out here. No way I was going to leave Nick in the dust, after all."

Nick and Yuuki couldn't help but steal glances at each other as the entire group walked back to Yokohama Kohoku General Hospital, most of the conversations being Kazuto and his party inquiring about the adventures that Katelyn and Shoko were part of in ALO. Kazuto, especially, was interested in Shoko's early adventures once he learned that she was a survivor of Sword Art Online like all of his friends.

Nick and Yuuki weren't that interested, instead opting to just gaze at each other for a while.

After a few miles, Nick made a decision. He'd been fighting in his mind on whether or not to put _this_ particular question out there, as he wasn't sure if...

But then, he remembered that he'd been in a similar situation when he'd initially confessed his feelings to Yuuki.

He had debated on whether or not to even say anything, but had come to the decision to at least say _something_ , so he wouldn't spend the rest of his life wondering what could have been.

And Nick quickly realized that this was quite similar to that day, and that only cemented his determination.

Just to emphasize how serious he was, Nick took Yuuki's hands into his own and gazed deeply into her eyes, silently chuckling at how much Yuuki's blush intensified. "N-Nick, what...?"

"Yuuki, after everything we've been through together, I couldn't phrase this any better," Nick started. "I know you might think I'm asking kinda soon, but this battle we've been through taught me that I shouldn't ever take anything for granted again. After all, we almost lost each other, and I don't think either of us want that."

Yuuki held back tears as Nick continued to pour his heart out, having a pretty good idea of what he was about to say.

"I promised you I'd always stay by your side, that I'd stay with you until the end of our days," Nick continued. "And I wanna cement that promise right now. You, of all people, know that I tend to fumble over my own words when I try to express my feelings _in_ words, so I'm just going to say it right now."

The entire group was deathly silent, having heard what Nick was saying and waiting for a response. Yuuki just squeezed Nick's hands, hoping the next words out of Nick's mouth were what she thought they were.

A tear finally slipped out when the words came, just as she hoped they would.

"Yuuki Konno..." Nick asked, summoning all of his courage. "When we're old enough, of course... will you marry me?"

All eyes were on Yuuki, waiting for her answer. After drying the few tears that had already fallen, Yuuki looked up at Nick and smiled so brightly that Nick was slightly taken aback.

"Nick... after everything, do you really think my answer would be anything else?" Yuuki giggled.

"So... is that a 'yes'?" Nick wondered.

"Of _course_ my answer's yes, you big doof!" Yuuki exclaimed. "Yes, yes, a _thousand_ times yes, I'll marry you!"

With that, Yuuki threw herself into Nick's embrace as the rest of the group applauded for them.

"I really can't believe it..." Yuuki gasped.

"You know that you're the one I fell in love with, silly," Nick stated. "After everything we've been through, you really thought my feelings would change?"

"It's not _that_ ," Yuuki answered. "I just... there were times when I... I guess I never thought you _could_ love someone like me, someone whose days were numbered..."

"That's why we make every day count, right?" Nick replied. "It's my dad's philosophy, after all."

"I know," Yuuki proclaimed. "I'll admit, there were times when I really couldn't believe it. But I never doubted your feelings, Nick. Not for a second."

"Good, so I didn't make a total ass of myself," Nick laughed. "I tend to do that when I start fumbling over my own words."

"Well, when it counts, you _definitely_ know how to use your words," Yuuki giggled.

"By the way, sorry I couldn't give you a ring or anything fancy like that..." Nick started, only to be stopped by Yuuki leaning in to kiss him.

"Hey, hey," Yuuki stated. "You know I don't really need any of that fancy-schmancy stuff to be happy. Well, as cheesy as it sounds, all I need is _you_."

They sealed that promise with another kiss, ignorant to the cheers of everyone around them. All that existed in that one moment was the two of them.

 _Mom? Dad?_ Nick thought, knowing that his parents were watching over him from wherever in heaven they were. _I think I'll be okay. Heh, dad, I should be thanking you in particular, you know. If you hadn't encouraged me to talk to Yuuki, I might not have made it to this point. I really wish you and mom were still here to see it, but I'm just happy to know you'll be watching over me wherever my life takes my now._

And so, they all continued their trek back to the hospital, Nick and Yuuki never letting go of each other's hands.

 _ALfheim Online, Floor 24: Panareze, three years later..._

 **("Sleepless Legend" by Aoi Yuuki, Yu Shimamura, Daiki Yamashita, Nobuyuki Kobushi, Atsushi Tamaru & Asami Tano plays)**

Yuuki stood there, just letting the breeze flow by.

Even if the breeze was just virtual, it felt real to her.

As petals rained down from the tree she stood under, Yuuki thought about all of the adventures she had been on lately. Everything she and Nick had been through together in the past four years.

Honestly, Yuuki was surprised that they had come this far. Despite all the trials and all the tribulations, here they were. Standing firmly against the odds.

They had both fought so hard to get to this point.

Yuuki had finally emerged victorious in her long battle against AIDS, as almost a year after their defeat of Akira and Nanako, a cure had finally been discovered.

Nick had fought through the heartbreak of losing both of his parents to Makoto and Akira's former friend Souji, also known as Phantom.

However, despite everything, here they were.

A week away from being forever joined together.

Speaking of which, where _was_ he? It wasn't like him to be late.

As she gazed towards the great World Tree in the distance, she saw a flutter of wings approaching her spot.

"Fashionably late as always, Nick," Yuuki laughed.

"Sorry, Yuuki, I got held up," Nick stammered as he landed and disengaged his wings. "You know Nori, after all, always eager to get the show on the road. I had to tell her at least five times that you wanted to meet up here first, right?"

"Yeah, the raid party's still discussing tactics and all that junk," Yuuki stated. "Besides, didn't you have something you wanted to give me?"

"Nice segue," Nick quipped before delving into his inventory and retrieving the ring he'd been holding on to since that floor forty-two field dungeon. It had been an ultra rare drop, the Crystal Amethyst Ring, an accessory that boosted magic attack and magic defense by a whopping +10. Nick had been holding onto it because it, by some odd coincidence, very closely resembled the wedding ring Yuuki was wearing IRL, and thought it would be perfect for her.

"I seriously can't believe it's almost here," Nick stated. "We've waited almost three years for this day..."

"I know you're not the most patient person out there, Nick," Yuuki giggled as Nick slipped the ring onto her finger. "But we've only gotta wait, what, eight more days?"

"And if that raid party can't finish clearing the labyrinth before then, they're gonna have to do it without us," Nick proclaimed.

"Eh, I don't think it'll take that long," Yuuki replied. "Floor forty-seven was never _that_ difficult, even back in SAO from what I heard."

"Let's hope that stays true," Nick laughed. "After all, Ymir changed a _lot_ of stuff from the original SAO, so I'm keeping my guard up."

Nick extended his hand to Yuuki, which she eagerly took into her own.

"Hey, guys! We _finally_ found you!"

Nick and Yuuki spun around to see the rest of the Sleeping Knights approaching them rapidly.

"Why didn't you just _tell_ us you wanted to give her the ring?" Nori proclaimed.

"It had to be special, Nori," Nick replied. "I wanted it to be in a place that meant something to Yuuki."

"The raid party's almost done with their spiel, so we should probably join them if we want to take part in this labyrinth raid," Jun stated.

"Well, then, let's move out, Sleeping Knights! Off to adventure we go!" Yuuki proclaimed.

"Are we too late for the party?"

Nick stopped in his tracks upon hearing a familiar voice. A quick glance ahead confirmed that who else but Makoto, player alias "Thanatos", was approaching them.

"Holy cow, Makoto, it's been, what, _years_ since the last time we saw you?" Yuuki quipped.

"Yeah, I kinda stopped playing ALO for a little while due to... well, _things_ that life decided to kick me in the face with," Makoto admitted. "But when Nanako told me that you were getting married soon, I figured I'd come back and see how you're all doing."

"W-wait a minute, Makoto," Nick proclaimed, suddenly on edge. "How is Nanako still with you? I thought you erased her AI from my mind."

"I did," Makoto stated. "But before you woke up, I saved a copy of her AI onto a flash drive so I could transfer it back to my own Amusphere. In case you're wondering, Nick, no, I don't plan on doing anything like I had before. That's all in the past. Now, Nanako's just my partner in the game. Right, Nanako?"

Makoto double-tapped the side of his head, and a little ball of light zipped out from behind him, eventually forming into Nanako's Sylph avatar, looking just as she had that fateful day three years ago.

"Pretty much!" Nanako giggled. "Um, Makoto, should I go ahead and say it?"

Makoto just nodded, and Nanako walked up to Nick, who was still slightly confused.

"I... I wanted to apologize," Nanako stated. "Even after three years, I still feel bad that I never got to apologize to you for what I did. I never had _any_ bad intentions for you. I was... just following what Makoto and Akira wanted. If I'd have known what was really going on, I would have spoken out against it."

Nanako blushed slightly as she extended her hand. "So, um... can you ever forgive me?"

Nick just smiled, extending his own hand to shake Nanako's. "I've done crazy things for love, too. I know where you're coming from, so, well..."

"All right, you guys, enough of the sentiments, are we going to the raid or what?" Nori proclaimed, causing everyone to start laughing.

"Okay, okay, let's get going before Nori has a cow," Yuuki giggled. "Sleeping Knights! Assemble!"

All of the Sleeping Knights, Nick included, stood at attention upon this call.

"Wings, activate!" Yuuki proclaimed. Everyone activated their wings, slowly rising into the air.

"Now, let's get to the teleport gate! No _way_ are they getting ahead of us!" Yuuki stated.

And with that, everyone took off from the island, heading for the Panareze Teleport Plaza, with Makoto and Nanako following closely behind.

 _Sooooooooooo... ladies and gentlemen, that's our story. Quite an intense and interesting one, huh?_

As the Sleeping Knights flew through the sky towards Panareze, Nick and Yuuki couldn't help but watch Jun and Tecchi start arguing over another game they'd been playing recently.

 _I remember something that someone once told me. I think it was a friend of Aiko's. She had said something along the lines of "Our life is a story"._

Nick and Yuuki flew closer to each other to join hands, Nick subconsciously touching the ring on Yuuki's finger as if reminding himself that it wouldn't be much longer.

 _One thing I've been wondering when it comes to that is, well... Since they said life is a story, what would happen if the story went differently?_

Yuuki couldn't help but smile as Nick leaned over to kiss her.

 _Could one little difference affect the way the entire story plays out?_

A few minutes later, and the entire group, feeling a little daring, continued to fly straight for the Teleport Gate, all calling out "Teleport: Floria!" at the same time to activate the gate and allow them to fly right through.

 _I've always had a pretty vivid imagination, so I tend to think of how one little changed detail can affect the way our stories unfold._

As they flew over the fields of flowers, Nick couldn't help but wave to Silica, who was browsing the gardens with Pina by her side.

 _Like, what if, instead of this wacko serial killer, Nick and I would go up against the remnants of Death Gun? Yeah, remember_ _ **those**_ _psychos?_

Even Asuna was there, standing by Kirito's side as they flew by. Yuuki waved to Asuna, who almost instantly waved back despite Kirito placing a flower in her hair just to make her blush.

 _Or maybe we were a few of the ten thousand people trapped in Sword Art Online, fighting for our lives in a death game that had no concept of 'mercy'?_

Siune was the first to notice the large crowd standing just outside a large, flower-covered gateway, no doubt the entrance to the floor forty-seven labyrinth.

 _People can turn the page, spill ink on the book, tear out a page or two, whatever they think will work. But if there's anything I've learned, it's that, in the end, like that lady said, if your life is a story, then only you have the power to write that story._

The Sleeping Knights landed just behind the crowd of players listening to whatever spiel the raid commander was talking about this time.

 _Whatever you want to happen in your story, only you can make it a reality._

Nick and Yuuki took the time to sneak another kiss while everyone else was distracted by the commander's ramblings, as they would most likely be preoccupied fighting monsters once they entered the labyrinth.

 _Your story is in your hands._

And once the commander gave the all-clear to move out, and everyone drew their weapons, Nick and Yuuki did so with gusto. Yuuki had actually inherited Nick's old Element Saber, as the sword she'd been using for so many years had finally been destroyed by the floor forty-six boss, and Nick had acquired a new sword of his own, the Liberty Bell, a Lisbeth special order.

Despite all the commotion of the raid party, Nick and Yuuki stuck together, never letting go of each others' hands.

She had promised, after all. He had, too.

They would never, ever, _ever_ let go of each other. That was their oath.

And they had both promised to carry that oath until the end of their days.

As the raid commander activated the gateway to the labyrinth and the doors opened, Yuuki looked at Nick one more time.

"Stay?" Yuuki asked. She did this a lot.

"Always," Nick replied.

Among lifelong friends and stalwart allies alike, Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno shared one more passionate kiss before stepping into the light.

 _~Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:~  
_ _~ The End ~_


	13. Ever After

It was a normal day on floor 47, even as the raid party approached the labyrinth that would eventually take them to floor 48.

She stood there, simply watching the raid party enter the labyrinth, watching two players in particular, still acting all lovey-dovey even after all these years.

Did they just... not care about what they'd done? Had time wiped the incident from their minds, or did they simply laugh it off as not even worth revisiting?

Either way, it didn't matter to her, as long as she would be able to take her richly-deserved revenge.

She checked her inventory, making sure that everything which was supposed to be there was still there.

A quick check of her skill levels (they were pretty high, having grinded nonstop over the past three years simply to get enough of an edge), and she drew her blade, ready to begin the first phase of her plan.

She chuckled for a second as she realized she was acting just like _he_ had before... before _they'd_...

She shook off those gnawing feelings of heartache and grief, knowing that now wasn't the time for painful reflections that would only make it worse on her. She'd grieve for him once _they_ were dead and gone.

After a few seconds of thought, she decided to camp out by the teleport gate and wait until floor 48 was unlocked, then ambush them, as they'd most likely be exhausted from fighting the boss, and thus ripe for the pickings.

As the doors to the labyrinth closed, she equipped the armor she'd chosen for this moment and marched back to town to await her moment of triumph.

"Soon..." she proclaimed. "I promise you, my love, I will not rest until you have been avenged... until their blood is spilled all over this cursed virtual world..."

She let her fingers rest on the handle of her weapon, eagerly awaiting her chance.

"When this is all over, those two wretches will wish they'd _never_ been born..."

* * *

(Never give up on your dreams, especially if you consider them to be worth fighting for.)

 **The Blue Time Ranger** is proud to present...  
 _Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:  
_ **Story Created:** January 24th, 2018  
 **Story Rated:** T for Teen

 **Story Summary:** What if the story went a little differently? Nick Kelly and Yuuki Konno are a rather interesting pair. With Yuuki hopefully on the road to recovery from AIDS, Nick knows to treasure the time they have left, as he knows it could run out at any second. One day while on an adventure, Nick realizes that someone seems to be after Yuuki, and this stalker appears to be connected to Nick's past somehow. Can Nick and Yuuki unravel this mystery before tragedy strikes?

 **On Today's Episode:** Four years have passed since the battle with Akira and Nanako, and life is back to as normal as it ever gets. Nick and Yuuki are eagerly awaiting their wedding, which takes place in just a week. But the past refuses to stay buried, as an old lover of Akira's arrives in Yokohama to take her revenge on Nick and Yuuki for supposedly killing the man she loved. The soon-to-be newlyweds will have to take up their swords once again to stop Panther's devious plans before she can derail their happily ever after...

 **Theme Song Notes:** The opening theme to this epilogue OVA is different than the main series. For this episode, the opening theme is "Pikon de Metafiction" by Erabareshi (the opening theme to Cyberdimension Neptunia: Four Goddesses Online).

 **Author's Note:** In case you were wondering, any floors that weren't shown in Sword Art Online, like Dahngrest, Blizzalia, Jerado, and such, were created by me. As seen here, I will be using floors from SAO if they were seen in the novel, manga, or anime. Don't know why I say this _now_ , on the final episode, but, eh...

 **And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** I, The Blue Time Ranger, do not own anything related to Sword Art Online or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Pictures, and Aniplex USA. Anything I do not own, I am just borrowing for the story with every intent of returning them when I'm done. The only things I DO own are any characters and places created by yours truly for the story. And, I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights, only to entertain my readers. Besides, if I _did_ own Sword Art Online, which I _don't_ , why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

* * *

Episode 13: Ever After

"Well, it looks like it's boss time," nineteen-year-old Nick Kelly quipped as the raid party came to a complete halt in front of the gateway to the boss room. Nick lazily twirled his new weapon, the Liberty Bell, in his hands, still admiring the splendid job that Lisbeth had done on this special order weapon. As he did so, he couldn't help but glance at his fiancée, nineteen-year-old Yuuki Konno, who was practicing some of her moves with one of his old weapons.

As Yuuki's sword had been destroyed by the boss of floor forty-six in its death throes, Nick hadn't hesitated in gifting Yuuki his old Element Saber weapon, then going to Lisbeth to craft a new weapon with some special materials he'd been holding onto for a while, unsure of how exactly to use them. Leave it to Lisbeth to come up with a solution, huh?

As the raid leader started his spiel as he always did (Nick noted that the speech was mostly the same on every floor, the only real difference being about the boss in question), Nick and Yuuki smiled at each other, Nick glancing at an amethyst ring on Yuuki's right index finger.

That ring always served to remind Nick how close their wedding was getting, with only one week remaining as of today. Nick had proposed to Yuuki four years ago, mere moments after their perilous showdown with Akira and Makoto had come to its conclusion. Nick had realized in that moment to never take her for granted, especially after all the heartbreak and anger that had pervaded that battle.

"Well, I'm ready for this," Yuuki giggled. "No clue if you are, Nick, but I really don't need to ask, do I?"

"Isn't that the truth," Nick quipped.

"How about you, Siune?" Yuuki asked.

"I'm ready whenever you are, Yuuki," Siune proclaimed, still wishing that the rest of the Sleeping Knights could see how far they'd progressed.

"So, what do you think _this_ boss is going to be?" Yuuki asked as the gateway began to open.

"Not sure, honestly," Nick answered. "After all, I never played the original Sword Art Online, and I know that all of the Aincrad bosses are different then they were in SAO, so here's hoping it's something memorable."

Nick and Yuuki reached out to hold hands before leaning in to kiss each other.

"Oh, get a room, you two."

Yuuki looked behind her and saw that Lisbeth was watching them with a teasing grin.

"Hey, Liz, he's my fiancée, okay?" Yuuki laughed.

"Wow, Liz, we usually don't see you in the raid party," Nick quipped. "What's the occasion?"

"Well, floor forty-eight was where my smith shop was back in SAO, and if it's still available when we get there, you bet your _keester_ I'm nabbing it ASAP!" Lisbeth proclaimed, hefting her mace dramatically.

Yuuki had to chuckle at how Lisbeth phrased that, noting that it reminded her of how Asuna had wasted the floor twenty-one boss so she could purchase her old house from SAO on floor twenty-two before anyone else cloud possibly nab it.

"Well, then let's go take this marauder down, shall we?" Nick proclaimed as the boss arena revealed itself.

The arena in question resembled a fountain, much like the one at the Hill of Memories, only much larger and with waterfalls running _up_ the walls along the outer edges of the arena. A gigantic bubble was hanging just above the central fountain, no doubt containing the floor boss.

The bubble expanded twice before exploding outwards with a loud popping noise to reveal the floor forty-seven boss, a female figure made entirely of water with no visible face and a teardrop-shaped gem on her chest, being held aloft by two large liquid wings.

Three health bars appeared above the boss to reveal its name.

 _Aegaeon, Demon of the Waves._

"Well, well, look at what the goddess of the sea dragged up," Nick quipped as the raid party prepared to attack. "Let's drown this thing!"

Yuuki wasted no time in switching Element Saber to its water variation, knowing that she could only use its lightning-based attacks in this version.

Even as Yuuki leaped to attack Aegaeon, slashing at its chest with a vicious overhead strike that also caused a lightning bolt to drop from the sky and strike Aegaeon, Nick was already on the move.

"Yuuki, switch!" Nick exclaimed, and Yuuki tagged out so Nick could attack.

After raising Liberty Bell to the sky, Nick moved in and slashed at Aegaeon six times in wide, wavy patterns, Liberty Bell's blade trailing dark flower petals with each swing.

Nick then leaped to perform a forward vertical spinning attack followed by a horizontal forward spin attack, both spins knocking Aegaeon backwards.

For the finale, Nick did another forward somersault into a spin attack, but ended the attack by slamming Liberty Bell's blade into the ground under Aegaeon and unleashing a shockwave of darkness that drove the liquid demon away.

Nick was quick to notice that the gem on Aegaeon's chest was cracked after his attack. "Weak spot identified!" Nick exclaimed, calling out to the rest of the raid party as well.

"Hey, Nick?" Yuuki asked as she and Nick backed off to let some of the spellcasters do their thing. "Is it weird that I have to switch this thing to water, which _the boss is made of_ , to do my electric attacks?"

"Well, they only recently added elemental sub-classes, so it's probably going to take some getting used to," Nick answered. "Let's just put it out of our minds for now, 'kay?"

"Yup!" Yuuki giggled as she and Nick charged back in to attack even as Aegaeon raised its hands and caused pillars of water to erupt all around it, forcing them to back away before resuming the beatdown.

Before Nick could deliver a combo finisher, Aegaeon floated upwards, then flew towards the rest of the raid party.

"Oh, I don't think so!" Lisbeth exclaimed as she brought her mace behind her. Just as Aegaeon approached her, Lisbeth brought her mace down to the ground, causing a pink shockwave to ripple out from the point of impact and throw Aegaeon away from her. To add insult, multiple small explosions resembling fireworks damaged Aegaeon further, completely emptying the first health bar.

"Wait, that was it?" an Undine player gasped. "We've only been at it for five minutes!"

"Guess we were right about this boss being a breather compared to everything _else_ we've been up to recently," Yuuki giggled, knowing that Nick would know what she was referring to.

And sure enough, Nick groaned in frustration. "Yuuki, dear, do I _really_ need _another_ humiliation added to my public record?" Nick sighed, the memory of the floor forty-four boss battle still fresh in his mind.

"Oh, come on, it was funny!" Yuuki laughed, still reminiscing on how the goddess-like figure had actually started _dancing_ with Nick before unleashing one of its most powerful attacks and actually defeating him in the process.

"Yeah, dude, you gotta learn to let that stuff go," a Cait Sith answered, having been there for that particular boss fight.

"How was _I_ supposed to know that freakin' dancing shtick was an _instant kill_?!" Nick exclaimed. "Not to mention all the _idiots_ who _actually thought_ I was cheating on Yuuki!"

Nick clenched his free fist even as Aegaeon rose into the air, its liquid wings freezing into ice to signify the start of the second phase.

"I _really_ wanted to stab someone that day," Nick proclaimed.

Yuuki walked up and kissed Nick on the cheek, and just like that, all of his anger evaporated, leaving him to stare sheepily at his fiancée. "S-Sorry about that..."

"It's no big deal, silly," Yuuki replied. "And if it's any comfort, I wanted to stab that accusing jerkoid, too."

"Then let's put our anger over that nonsense into stabbing _this_ thing!" Nick proclaimed.

"Roger that!" Yuuki exclaimed as she and Nick charged Aegaeon, noticing that its teardrop gem was now positioned on its back.

On the way there, however, Aegaeon surprised them by slashing its ice wings out at them, forcing them to jump back to avoid getting skewered on the sharp icicles.

"Okay, not nice, mister water thing!" Yuuki exclaimed, dashing back in after both ice wings had been swung to attack with one of her new Sword Skills, Nova Ascension, where she slashed four times in different directions at Aegaeon's body before leaping to deliver four more strikes from the air. These four strikes each caused a shockwave to expand outwards from the slash. Finally, Yuuki dropped back down to viciously stab Element Saber forward while it was in lightning mode, doing extra elemental damage on top of the damage from her Sword Skill.

"There, how'd you like that?" Yuuki quipped as Nick switched with her to send Aegaeon flying with a Lightning Fall.

Nick quickly raised the Dreamcloud to block another slash from Aegaeon's ice wings as he glanced back at the spellcasters. "Hey, could some of the fire guys melt this freak's wings so we don't have to worry about getting skewered?" Nick called out.

In response, one of the Salamanders cast a spell that created a large shockwave of fire around Aegaeon, predictably not doing much damage but accomplishing Nick's intent of melting its frozen wings. This gave Yuuki the chance she needed to leap over Nick and attack the gemstone on Aegaeon's back.

Thankfully, it wasn't much longer before Aegaeon's second health bar was emptied, and the liquid creature rose into the air again before electrifying its whole body to signal the start of the final phase of the battle.

"I'm willing to bet that means 'no touchie' until the lightning goes away?" Lisbeth quipped.

"Not unless we can find a way to get it to go away faster," Nick replied. "I have a feeling that's the only way we're gonna finish this phase quickly."

"Hmmm..." Yuuki thought, rushing towards Aegaeon to test a theory.

Before anyone could call out to stop her, Yuuki unleashed a Drop Dash on Aegaeon, switching Element Saber's affinity to earth before doing so. When the blade made contact with Aegaeon's electrified body, a large rock spike erupted from the point of impact, passing through the sparks and driving Aegaeon away.

"Theory confirmed! Earth attacks are the way to go!" Yuuki proclaimed, and the mages got the message, throwing out as many earth spells as they could to bypass Aegaeon's electric defenses.

Aegaeon, however, wasn't ready to give up just yet, and raised both of its hands into the air, shooting a bolt of lightning towards the ceiling of the arena. Moments later, a thunderstorm began, causing rain to fall all over the room with the occasional thunderbolt aimed at the spellcasters to keep them on the move.

"Okay, not nice!" the Salamander raid captain growled, knowing his fire spells wouldn't do much in this storm.

"Then let's end this thing quickly, before you guys get too soaked," Nick quipped, already readying Liberty Bell for his attack.

"Wait, Nick, I think our gauges are full," Yuuki quipped. Nick quickly checked his interface, specifically looking towards a fourth gauge that curved around his avatar picture. Unlike the green health bar, the blue mana bar, or the yellow stamina bar, this fourth circular gauge was filled with a dark red light.

"Hey, yeah, you're right," Nick stated. "What do you say, Yuuki dear? You wanna awaken and send this thing packing?"

"Oh, you'd better _believe_ it!" Yuuki laughed.

Nick and Yuuki stopped in their tracks, crossing both of their arms over their chests. After a dual battle cry, they threw their arms out, causing a glowing red battle aura to explode to life around them, along with a pair of red spheres of light that started orbiting around them.

This was known as an Awakening, a game mechanic that had only been added as recently as the floor forty-two game update. Billed as a sort of "comeback mechanic", when the Union Gauge was filled completely, a player could undergo an Awakening that massively boosted all of their stats for a short time. As it took quite a while to charge the Union Gauge, though, most players usually saved an Awakening for when it would be most useful, notably in the middle of or at the end of a boss fight as a way to turn the tides, or as Nick so aptly put it, "tip the scales".

"Here we go!" Nick and Yuuki shouted together before rushing Aegaeon, who raised its hands to fire off bolts of lightning and water bullets from both of its hands. The spells pretty much bounced off of them thanks to the boosted defense their Awakening state gave them, and they both began to wail on Aegaeon with everything they had.

"Hey, you guys, don't leave me out of it!" Lisbeth exclaimed, activating her own Awakening and rushing over to join in on the beatdown.

In their Awakening state, it wasn't much longer before Nick and Yuuki were able to drop Aegaeon's health to its absolute limit.

"Now you're finished, water lady!" Nick exclaimed.

"Hey, you got the Last Attack Bonus on the floor forty-six fight," Yuuki giggled, joining Nick in his charge. "I think it's my turn."

"Well, how about we finish this thing off together?" Nick asked.

"Oh, we haven't used that move in _years_ ," Yuuki stated. "Let's do it!"

Aegaeon finally exited its attack animation only for Nick and Yuuki to lunge at it with extreme speed.

" _Switch Combination: Extreme Stars!"_ Nick and Yuuki shouted together.

Nick was the first to attack, slashing diagonally upwards and left, then diagonally downwards and right, then switching with Yuuki, who slashed straight horizontally, then diagonally down left and diagonally down right, their slashes forming the shape of a star. Finally, they both thrust their swords straight through the center of the star they'd created with their attacks, shattering the star and draining the last of Aegaeon's health.

Aegaeon's wings exploded first before the rest of its body did the same, shattering into glowing polygons that rained down across the boss room.

"VICTORY!" Yuuki exclaimed, high-fiving Nick once the battle was officially over.

"Wow, that only took us fifteen minutes," an Undine in the raid party noted.

"I wouldn't expect the next boss to be so forgiving," the Salamander captain proclaimed.

"OUT OF MY WAY, CHUMPS!" Lisbeth exclaimed, literally speeding towards the newly-activated Teleport Gate and pushing many other players aside in the process. "You're not beating me to it!"

Nick couldn't help but sigh at Lisbeth's antics. "Did she _really_ just do that?" Nick groaned.

"Asuna basically did the same thing on floor twenty-two," Yuuki giggled. "Just, you know, without calling everybody chumps."

"Maybe we should follow her before she gets herself in trouble," Nick stated.

With that, Nick and Yuuki followed the other players to the Teleport Gate, ready to explore Lindarth and see if it was any different from its appearance in Sword Art Online.

At first glance, Lindarth seemed mostly identical to its SAO self, being a medieval village-themed town with a rural and tranquil atmosphere. Nick, obviously, had to be told about Lindarth, as he hadn't started playing VRMMOs until ALfheim Online.

"Looks really homey," Nick stated as he and Yuuki walked into town.

"It looks pretty much like Kirito described it," Yuuki quipped. "And... oop, there goes Liz, dashing off to find her old shop."

"Just like her," Nick stated, looking at Yuuki for a few seconds before they both started laughing.

After their laughing fit was over, Nick and Yuuki looked at each other and smiled lovingly before leaning in for yet another kiss.

The sound of rushing footsteps put the two lovers on full alert, and Nick only had time to look up before someone thrust a rapier right for his face. Only a swift dodge to the side kept Nick from losing a large chunk of his health to a surprise attack.

"Whoa, Nick, are you okay?" Yuuki gasped as she reached out to catch Nick mid-tumble and save him from falling.

"All right, who's the wiseass?!" Nick shouted.

Standing just ahead of them was a tall Cait Sith woman with bright blue eyes and wavy platinum blonde hair styled in bushy pigtails, with parted side bangs on the right side of her face. She was wearing a skin-tight red latex catsuit with a cleavage cutout and zippers, a matching red panther mask, pink gloves, dark red thigh-high boots, and a clipped on tail on the back of her catsuit.

"Not what I was expecting, honestly," Yuuki noted.

"What do you want from me, lady?" Nick growled.

The lady didn't answer immediately, opting instead to stab at Nick with her rapier again, this time aiming for his chest. Nick was ready this time, bringing up the Dreamcloud to block the stab before slashing out with Liberty Bell and knocking the lady backwards.

"You want to start explaining yourself before I start stabbing _you_?!" Nick proclaimed.

"All you need to know is that my name is Panther," the lady responded. "And this is purely revenge for what you did."

Panther didn't allow Nick to inquire what she meant, lashing out with a Quadruple Pain that Nick rolled to the left to dodge, giving Yuuki the time to drive Panther down to the ground with a Sharp Nail.

"I'm warning you _right now_ ," Yuuki proclaimed. "If you hurt Nick in any way, I'm gonna have to bust out my super move. And you _don't_ want that."

"And then there's you," Panther growled, an almost animalistic sound that belied her young appearance as she jumped forward with an overhead slash that Yuuki easily dodged. "Did you not even _care_?!"

"How are we _supposed_ to care if we _don't know what we're supposed to care about?!_ " Nick shouted. "How about you start making sense?!"

"I _knew_ it! You just swept it under your rugs like it wasn't even worth your time!" Panther shrieked before moving in with a Sonic Impulse, swinging her rapier hard enough to fire a blade of light from it.

"Okay, this lady's starting to weird me out," Yuuki admitted. "Nick, can I _please_ stomp her?"

"Be my guest, sweetheart," Nick quipped.

"YAY!" Yuuki exclaimed before adopting a serious expression and dashing in to point-blank range. Panther attempted a flurry of stabs, but Yuuki deftly dodged each one before stopping right in front of Panther.

Yuuki readied Element Saber and stabbed outwards five times, creating a horizontal line down Panther's chest. Yuuki spun around and stabbed out five more times, creating another line going the opposite way, both lines forming a sort of X. Finally, Yuuki reared back and thrust her sword forward with a loud battle cry, driving the point of her blade straight into the center of the X she'd formed with her earlier sword stabs. Purple light exploded from Panther's wounds upon impact, and her health bar drained completely when the damage fully registered.

Panther took a few steps back, looking at her hands in disbelief even as her avatar began to crack. "I... I lost?"

Before Panther could comprehend her loss, her avatar shattered into glowing polygons, leaving only her Remain Light behind.

"And that's another weirdo down," Yuuki giggled, swinging Element Saber with a graceful flourish. "What do you think she was talking about, Nick?"

"No clue," Nick replied. "It really bugs me when people accuse us of something and then don't even _bother_ to explain _why_ they're so mad at us."

"No kidding," Yuuki noted, squeaking slightly when Nick pulled her into a surprise hug.

"Hey, Yuuki? I love you."

"Awww... I love you, too, Nick," Yuuki replied. "Just one more week to go, right?"

"And then nothing will _ever_ separate us again," Nick stated.

Unable to hold themselves back any longer, Nick and Yuuki leaned in for a kiss, completely oblivious to the few players that were watching.

* * *

Panther panted heavily as she returned to the game, still in shock over how easily she'd lost to Yuuki. That wasn't how this was supposed to go.

"Damn it..." Panther gasped. "I thought they'd be exhausted from fighting the boss... did I underestimate them?"

No matter, Panther decided. This was only the first step, after all. Knowing there wasn't much else she could do here, Panther sheathed her rapier and prepared to log out, ready to start the next phase of her plan.

Before she could, however, a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

"What are _you_ doing here, Panther?"

Panther spun around to see that who else but Makoto, player alias "Thanatos", was standing there, sizing her up with a rather suspicious look on his face.

"Or would you rather I call you Ann?" Makoto continued.

"Makoto, didn't I tell you already?" Ann growled. "I don't want you calling me that until I've settled things."

" _What_ things?" Makoto asked, though he had a pretty good idea already.

"You, of all people, should know why I'm here," Ann responded.

"Ann, stop it," Makoto proclaimed. "You're not doing something noble and you know it."

"Does it look like I _care_ about whether or not it's _noble_?" Ann shot back, angrily flourishing her rapier. "I stopped giving a shit after I heard what happened."

"And _I_ keep telling _you_ that you didn't hear the full story," Makoto replied, hoping he could get through to Ann before she made the same mistakes _he'd_ made.

"I don't _need_ to hear the full story, god damn it!" Ann shouted. "All I _need_ to know is that they _killed_ him, and I intend to see that they pay for it with their _lives_."

"And I suppose nothing I can say will convince you to listen to the truth?" Makoto sighed.

"The truth is that by the end of this week, those two little brats are going to _die_ for what they did. Eye for an eye, _right_?" Ann growled, logging out before Makoto could preach to her any more.

Makoto just sighed in resignation. Ann was still supremely stubborn after all these years.

"Um... Makoto? Who _was_ that?"

Makoto tapped the side of his head twice and Nanako appeared, looking slightly confused.

"Oh, right, I never introduced you," Makoto quipped. "Since you were still being coded during that time. That was Ann. She was... she was Akira's girlfriend."

Nanako gasped in shock when she realized the implications behind that.

"Is _that_ why she's so mad at Nick and Yuuki? Because she thinks they killed Akira?" Nanako asked. She knew that Akira had actually committed suicide by jumping off of the very top floor of the old telegraph tower. After all, she had been there to witness it, despite being in Nick's body at the time.

"I've tried to convince her to stop this pointless crusade, but she won't listen to me," Makoto sighed. "She's even more stubborn than Akira was."

"Don't you think we should tell Nick and Yuuki?" Nanako asked. "If we can't get Ann to see the truth, maybe they can!"

"I'm sure Ann just fought them a little while ago, if the way she was acting was any indication," Makoto admitted. "At least now they're on their guard, but..."

"What's the matter, Makoto?" Nanako asked, walking a bit closer to Makoto after sensing his obvious distress.

"I'm worried, Nanako," Makoto responded, shuffling his feet a few times and looking out at the vistas of Lindarth from their spot on the cliff overlooking the town. "I'm honestly scared that Ann's going to make good on her threats and actually try to kill them IRL."

"She _wouldn't_!" Nanako gasped.

"That's why we need to find those two and tell them about everything," Makoto proclaimed. "So they can keep their guard in case Ann actually _does_ try to kill them."

Nanako nodded before turning back into a ball of light and retreating into the local memory of Makoto's Amusphere. Makoto rushed down the cliff and onto the path that led back to the city, hoping that he could find Nick and Yuuki before it was too late.

* * *

"That was fun, huh?" Yuuki stated as she and Nick returned to reality.

"I'm just glad that boss was easy, honestly," Nick answered. "Because I have a feeling the next couple bosses are _not_ going to be fun. After all, we're getting close to floor fifty."

"Yeah, and each of the quarterly floor bosses are still incredibly broken compared to the other bosses," Yuuki quipped. "That sounds like it's going to be _all kinds_ of fun."

Both Nick and Yuuki were currently staying in the guest room at the house of Nick's childhood friend Katelyn, as Nick had for a few years now after losing his parents to Makoto's psychotic former associate Souji.

"Is Katie back yet?" Yuuki asked, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. Over the past couple years, Yuuki had actually let her hair grow out so that she mostly resembled her ALO avatar (without the pointed ears, obviously).

Nick's eyes were drawn to a note that had been left on their dresser, scribbled in Katelyn's signature swirly cursive.

 _Hey, guys, just in case you don't see me here when you get back from the boss fight, I went with mom and Shoko to get some stuff for the wedding next week! Ooh, I'm just as excited as you guys are! My best buddy's getting married!_

"You'd think _she_ was the one getting married with how excited she's been lately," Nick sighed.

"She's been a big help, hasn't she?" Yuuki admitted. "Katie and Shoko have been _really_ helpful in getting everything we need for the wedding when it actually gets here."

"I seriously never knew that getting a wedding ready was so _complicated,_ " Nick sighed, to which Yuuki just laughed.

"No kidding," Yuuki stated as she hopped out of bed to gaze out at the sunset that now illuminated the entire city. "It's beautiful tonight, huh?"

"You don't see sights like this every day," Nick admitted as he walked over to hug Yuuki from behind.

They just stood there, watching the sunset, for a good ten minutes.

"Yuuki?"

"Yes, Nick?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Nick leaned forward slightly as Yuuki turned her head back so their lips could meet halfway.

They kissed non-stop for at least twenty seconds until being interrupted by a loud slam from downstairs and a sitcom-esque cry of "I'm hoooooooome!" from Katelyn.

"Damn it, Katie," Nick groaned. "Just _had_ to be the moment killer, didn't she?"

"Oh, don't worry," Yuuki giggled in a way Nick had honestly never heard from her before. "We can pick up where we left off later, okay?"

Despite the massive blush that now adorned his face and the cute laugh that came from Yuuki at his flustered expression, Nick just nodded as he and Yuuki left the room to greet Katelyn.

"Hey, guys!" Katelyn proclaimed, leaping over to hug both Nick and Yuuki as they reached the living room. "Did you have fun with the boss fight?"

"Piece of cake, as expected," Yuuki giggled. "I knew it was going to be a breather fight from the start."

"I _don't_ think we'll be so lucky on the next few floors," Nick admitted.

Katelyn leaned forward, having suddenly taken an interest in Nick's facial expression. "Heeeeeeeey, are you _blushing_ , Nick?" Katelyn giggled.

"Uh-um-uh-I-I just I did you did I said..." Nick stammered, wondering why his mouth was failing him now of all times.

"You totally are!" Katelyn laughed. "Did Yuuki say something that got you all hot and bothered?"

"KATIE!" Nick shouted.

"If you must know, Katie," Yuuki proclaimed. "Nick and I were just sharing a kiss when you kinda interrupted it with your sitcom entrance."

"Aw, you guys didn't have to stop kissing 'cause of lil' ol' me!" Katelyn responded. "I would have happily just let you do your thing."

"Hey, where's Shoko?" Nick wondered. "I thought she was with you."

"Oh, mom's just driving her home," Katelyn answered. "After all, she's got a mountain of homework to take care of."

"Ugh, I know that feeling," Yuuki groaned. "College is no joke, after all. I'm just glad it's still the weekend."

"At least they have _some_ sense of mercy," Nick sighed.

"Hey, Katie, Nick and I are gonna take a walk, okay?" Yuuki stated, reaching out to take Nick's hand. "Hold down the fort for us, got it?"

"Understood!" Katelyn proclaimed, throwing her right hand up in a mock salute.

As Katelyn rushed upstairs to her own room, Nick and Yuuki stepped outside and began to walk through the city, holding hands the entire way.

"I'm really sorry about Katie," Nick apologized. "Even four years later, she _still_ loves to tease me about every little thing that happens in our relationship... I know she means well, but there are times when I'd just like to have a romantic moment or even, hell, _flirting with my soon-to-be wife_ without her picking apart every little detail of what I say..."

"You can't fault Katie for being herself," Yuuki giggled. "She's been like that ever since we got engaged."

"Yeah, but there's some things I'd like to keep _out_ of her line of sight..." Nick sighed.

Yuuki couldn't help but burst into laughter at the way Nick had phrased that.

"Oh, not you, too..." Nick groaned.

"It's just so much fun to tease you, silly," Yuuki laughed. "Oh, hey, I almost forgot the reason I actually wanted to go on this walk!"

"Which is?" Nick asked.

Yuuki looked at Nick with a slightly somber expression, even though she was still smiling. "Did you wanna go with me to visit Aiko?"

Nick nodded without hesitation. This was something that Yuuki had done at least once a month since she'd been discharged from the hospital. She always went to a cemetery that was adjacent to the local park to visit her deceased family.

"I kinda want to check in with mom and dad, too," Nick replied. "It's been too long since the last time I came, what with all the preparations we've been making."

With that in mind, Nick and Yuuki took a detour to the cemetery in question, in particular to a trio of headstones all inscribed with the names of the Konno family.

"Hey, mom, dad, Aiko," Yuuki started. "I hope you guys are doing all right. Well, it's just a week until I'm married! I _still_ can't believe it, honestly. Nick's been so good to me, ever since I met him that day five years ago. _Five years ago?_ Holy cow, time flies, doesn't it?"

Nick immediately put a hand on Yuuki's shoulder when he noticed that a few tears were falling.

"I really wish you all could have met Nick," Yuuki proclaimed. "He's one of a kind, to be sure."

"I don't think I'm _that_ special, Yuuki," Nick admitted. "I'm just a normal dude, if you want my opinion."

"Yeah, but _you're_ the boy I fell in love with," Yuuki answered. "That _alone_ makes you special to me, Nick. You made me want to fight even harder to live a life with no regrets, since... well, back then, we still didn't know if my disease was going to get the last laugh."

"But _you_ got the last laugh instead," Nick replied. "It's like I told _you_ , Yuuki. You gotta fight with everything you've got to spit in the face of destiny and basically tell it 'screw you, _this_ is how I'm going to live my life'. It was one of the lessons dad taught me, and it really stuck."

Yuuki nodded before leaning over to hug Nick tightly. "It stuck with me, too. Thank you for teaching me that, Nick. Now, how about we go say hi to your parents?"

Nick and Yuuki stood up to move on to their next destination, only to once again hear the sound of rushing footsteps.

This time, Nick was already prepared, ducking under the strange object that cracked through the air and rushing forward to shoulder tackle their attacker and send her stumbling backwards.

"You tried that trick earlier," Nick taunted. "You _seriously_ didn't think it was going to work this time, did you?"

Looking up at their attacker, Nick's suspicions were confirmed.

It was Panther, the cat-suited lady that had attacked them in Lindarth, though she was wearing normal clothes instead of that gaudy catsuit from ALO.

"And since you're attacking us again, I'm going to guess that you're stubborn, too," Nick proclaimed.

"What's your deal, lady?!" Yuuki asked.

"You heartless _bastards_ already _know_ why I hate you both so much!" Panther exclaimed, flourishing what appeared to be, of all things, a _whip_.

"Um, for your information, _no we don't_!" Nick growled. "I haven't even met you until this afternoon, and the first time you show your face, you try to kill us! You'll have to excuse me if I don't understand your damn motives!"

"Besides, what did we ever do to you?!" Yuuki shouted.

Panther's whole body began shaking with barely repressed anger. "You... you monsters..." Panther gasped. "You unbelievable _monsters_... how could you just kill someone and not even _care_ that you committed murder?!"

"Lady, you're not making sense now," Yuuki responded. "Who could someone like _me_ have possibly killed?"

"YOU KNOW DAMN FUCKING WELL WHO I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Panther screamed, lashing out with her whip and striking Nick across the chest to knock him down, then striking again and catching Yuuki across the chest, causing her to crash into the headstone of the Kelly family and knock it over.

Yuuki quickly scrambled to her feet, slightly panicking. "Oh, jeez, Nick, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..."

Yuuki chanced a glance upward to see how Nick was taking it.

Nick was angry, all right.

But not at her.

Yuuki was relieved to see that Nick's anger wasn't being directed at her. After all, Nick and Yuuki had _never_ gotten even slightly angry at each other over all the time they'd been dating and engaged, something Nick thought was quite the record.

But the anger on Nick's face reminded her of the anger that _she'd_ felt towards Akira when he'd mocked her, the sheer murderous rage that she had often thought herself to be incapable of.

"Now _get on your goddamn feet_ so I can make you pay for what you've done," Panther growled, cracking her whip out again...

...only for Nick to swiftly jump back to his feet, dodge to the right, then reach out to grab the whip before Panther could bring it back.

"W-what?!" Panther gasped.

"You have _no idea_ what you just stepped in, you bitch," Nick proclaimed, locking gazes with Panther and causing her to take a step back from reflexive fear of the unyielding rage Nick's eyes were filled with.

"Not only do you hurt my fiancée, but you desecrate my _parents' graves_ ," Nick growled. "I don't give a _shit_ that you're a girl, if you want my opinion. Pissing me off like this can only ensure that you're in for a _first-class ass beating!_ "

Not giving Panther a chance to retort, Nick yanked on the whip, causing Panther to be pulled forward enough so Nick could raise his free hand and drive his fist straight into Panther's face. Even as Panther stumbled back, trying to retrieve her weapon, Nick pulled on the whip and yanked her right back so that he could punch her in the stomach.

"Now how about you start explaining yourself before I do something _even worse_ than a fist to your damn face?!" Nick shouted. "The only person I've ever _actually_ killed was a psychopath who totally deserved what he got for killing my family! That wasn't murder, that was _justice_!"

"I'm not _talking_ about Souji, you goddamn fool!" Panther shot back, tears starting to fall from her eyes. "I'm talking about Akira! He was my boyfriend, the love of my life, and you _degenerates_ flat-out murdered him!"

"W-wait, Akira?!" Yuuki gasped. "We didn't kill him, Panther!"

"Yeah, that numbskull killed himself!" Nick responded. "He jumped off of the telegraph tower because he didn't want to be taken in by the police for what he did!"

"LIARS!" Panther screamed. "Stop lying to me!"

Nick immediately shifted into a battle stance. He _really_ didn't like where this was going.

"Your stubbornness is really starting to remind me of a certain psycho," Nick proclaimed. "And I'm putting a stop to that _right now_. I don't need another Phantom haunting my life, thank you _very much_!"

Nick ducked under another whip strike and lashed out with his right leg to sweep Panther off of her feet before launching his other foot upwards to slam it into Panther's chest and send her tumbling backwards.

"Oh, don't think I'm done with you yet, boy," Panther growled. "I swear, I'm not going to stop until _both of you_ pay with your _lives_ for killing my boyfriend! You will _suffer_ by the time I'm done with both of you!"

"ANN, STOP!"

Ann twirled around and saw Makoto rushing towards the scene. _Shit, I wasn't expecting him to come after me,_ Ann thought. _As long as he's around, I'm not getting anywhere._

Deciding to just cut her losses and beat it, Ann retracted her whip and made a hasty exit from the cemetery.

"M-Makoto?" Yuuki gasped as she picked herself up. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I came here to warn you two about Ann, but it looks like she got to you first," Makoto responded as Yuuki moved to put the headstone that she'd crashed into back where it should be.

"Okay, Makoto, I think it's time for you to fess up," Nick proclaimed. "How do you know that crazy bitch?"

"Well, as she probably told you, she was Akira's girlfriend, and another survivor of Sword Art Online," Makoto answered. "They actually met in the game, but Ann had to move away because of her parents' work about a year after SAO was cleared. They always kept in touch every single day. Honestly, whenever Akira wasn't working on Nanako's AI, he was most likely talking to Ann."

"Yeah, and apparently she's got it locked in her head that I'm responsible for Akira's death," Nick stated. "I tried to tell her that Akira killed _himself_ , but she just kept insisting I was lying."

"Yeah, Ann's even more stubborn than Akira was," Makoto admitted. "I just wanted to warn you two to keep your guard up, though I guess you don't need that warning now."

"And what are _you_ going to do about this, Makoto?" Yuuki asked.

"Only thing I _can_ do," Makoto answered. "Keep trying to convince her that she's fighting a lost cause."

"Wait a minute, how did you know we were here, Makoto?" Nick wondered.

"Well, I had a little help, honestly," Makoto replied as who else but Shoko, the girl who played the Cait Sith beast tamer Hanmyo on ALO, stepped out from behind a nearby tree.

"Sorry, guys, I didn't want you to think I was stalking you or anything," Shoko giggled. "I saw you guys walking towards here, and then I saw that odd lady following you. To be frank, I thought she was stalking you like what Katie used to do when Phantom was controlling her."

"And then she saw me, because I was trying to find Ann before she could make good on her threats," Makoto continued. "So, we both decided to follow you guys for a bit and make sure Ann didn't try anything, but then we lost her at the other corner. She must have doubled around the other way to throw us off."

"This is just asinine," Nick groaned. "I thought we were _done_ with this crap after we stopped Akira and Souji... I swear I'm just cursed."

"At least now we know what to expect in case Ann comes calling again," Yuuki stated. "Besides, just let her try something. I'll knock her flat!"

"Make that double for me," Shoko replied. "I'm really not in the mood for another Phantom showing up."

"You guys should probably get back home," Makoto answered. "I'll keep in touch in case Ann tries something."

"Will do," Yuuki proclaimed.

From far away, Ann watched the group depart for their respective homes, clutching her fist tightly.

"I guess it's time for the second phase," Ann thought out loud. "They won't get past me this time."

Back at Katelyn's house, Nick and Yuuki, after checking in with Katelyn (and deciding to leave Ann out for the time being), immediately pranced back to their shared bedroom, where Nick proceeded to flop down on the bed.

"Ugh... this is nuts, Yuuki," Nick sighed. "When is this madness going to end?"

"Hey, look at how many nutballs that Kirito's had to take care of," Yuuki quipped. "Especially when it came to all that Underworld business, and that incident with the Augma..."

"I'm surprised you didn't really catch on to the Augma," Nick replied. "Heck, even I tried out Ordinal Scale before I decided that augmented reality just doesn't like me."

"Hey, AR's not for everybody, that much is true," Yuuki admitted.

Nick glanced over as Yuuki dove onto the bed much like he had earlier.

"So... where did we leave off?" Nick asked.

"I believe right about here," Yuuki giggled before leaning in to kiss Nick, their lips meeting halfway.

Katelyn watched with a smile through the slightly open door before deciding that discretion _was_ the better part of valor. After all, she'd already killed a moment before, and she didn't want to inadvertently do it again.

 _I'm happy for them,_ Katelyn thought. Despite the fact that she was Nick's childhood friend and had even admitted to being in love with him after being freed from Phantom's mind control, Katelyn had been very graceful in the end, just wanting her best friend to be happy.

Katelyn decided to retreat to the living room and check out the new episode of that drama series she'd been getting into lately.

However, in the middle of one of the more dramatic moments, Katelyn had heard a noise that clearly didn't belong to the show she was watching.

A quick glance behind her alerted Katelyn to the presence of Ann stalking through the hallways and eventually moving to the stairway that led upstairs.

Katelyn quickly noticed that Ann didn't stop to look at her, indicating that she was either unaware of Katelyn's presence or didn't think she knew that Katelyn was aware of her entrance.

Katelyn decided to take advantage of that fact and, after putting her show on pause, began to follow Ann upstairs, knowing why she was here even if she didn't know the motive.

Ann stopped right outside the door to Nick and Yuuki's room, reaching for her belt and drawing a knife from it. She stood there, just waiting for the right moment to strike while they were disoriented.

Unfortunately, that moment of patience cost Ann her chance, as just before she could lunge through the door, Katelyn had leaped forward to grab Ann by her shirt collar and yank her backwards.

"W-what?!" Ann gasped.

"Yeah, try again, lady!" Katelyn proclaimed, snaking her arms around Ann's waist and lifting as hard as she could, allowing her to suplex Ann into the ground and daze her.

Naturally, Nick and Yuuki were drawn by the loud noise and exited their room, both of them shocked to see Ann in their house.

"How did you know I was here?!" Ann growled, adopting a fighting stance even as Katelyn slowly advanced on her.

"Sorry, but you weren't as Solid Snake as you thought you were," Katelyn shot back. "You're not touching my friends, got it?!"

"Hmph," Ann huffed as she twirled her knife. "You're just another wretch in my way."

Ann lunged forward, clearly intending to stab Katelyn, only for Katelyn to easily dodge the stab before reaching out to grab Ann by the shoulder and spin her around.

While Ann was still recovering, Katelyn charged and slammed into Ann with a flying shoulder tackle, leaving Ann to fall down the stairway. Not content with just that, Katelyn _leaped_ down the stairway after her opponent, driving a fist into the wall that Ann rolled away from.

"Get back here, you crazy cow!" Katelyn growled. "I'm not done with you yet!"

Ann jumped, then kicked off of a nearby wall to hopefully get the drop on Katelyn, only to gasp in shock when Katelyn grabbed her in mid-jump and powerslammed her into the ground. (Katelyn had to resist shouting "PREDICTABLE" when she did so; now wasn't the time for referencing ancient video games, after all.)

"Now _beat it_ before I mess up your spine even worse," Katelyn proclaimed. She'd learned _that_ particular throw from Shoko. "I _know_ that one hurt."

"How many of you monsters were in on this?!" Ann gasped as she picked herself up.

"I'm only gonna say this once," Katelyn proclaimed. "We didn't kill Akira. We wanted to _hurt him_ for what he did to Nick, yes, but we never wanted to kill him."

"Then why is he _dead_?!" Ann shouted. "Answer me _that_ , you bastards!"

"Because," Yuuki stated rather firmly. "Akira killed himself. I was there to witness it, after all."

"And you just _let him_ do it?!" Ann shrieked.

"Hey, I tried to stop him," Yuuki shot back. "I didn't want his story to end like that, even after everything he put us through."

 _The distant sound of sirens from below caught Akira's attention, and he cast a glance down to the ground, actually shocked at the myriad red and blue lights of the Yokohama police gathering at the base of the tower._

" _W-what the hell are the police doing here?!" Akira proclaimed._

" _I called them on the way here," Makoto answered. "Better safe than sorry, am I right, 'partner'?"_

" _Just accept it, Akira. It's over," Asuna stated. "Just surrender to the police and no one will have to get hurt."_

 _Akira quickly realized that he was backed into a corner, with no possible way out of this... except one._

" _Are you out of your mind?!" Akira responded. "I'd rather die than let this world pass judgment on me! You'll have to get me to surrender in_ _ **hell**_ _!"_

 _The instant Yuuki saw Akira lift his foot, she moved forward to stop him, but she was just a second too late, reaching the guard rail only to see Akira fall backwards and downwards into the empty air._

" _D-D-Did he just...?" Keiko gasped._

 _Yuuki just stood there in shock, wondering why Akira chose to end it like that, and pointedly tuning out the sound she heard about fifteen seconds later._

"I _hated_ him for what he tried to do to my fiancée, but even I wouldn't have wanted him to end his own life like that," Yuuki continued.

"I don't know where exactly you got it in your head that _we_ killed him, Ann," Nick stated. "But we _didn't_. This vendetta you have against us is entirely _pointless_."

Ann actually took a few steps back, still staring at them to see if there was any chance they were still lying to her.

But the looks on their faces told Ann everything she needed to know. And finally, she allowed the tears to start falling.

"W-Why?" Ann sobbed. "Why would he just..."

"We had him cornered," Shoko answered, causing everyone to realize that she was standing in the front doorway alongside a very confused Heidi. "We wanted him to answer for his crimes, but he wouldn't accept that."

Ann took another step back, then another, then snapped her eyes shut tightly to stem the flow of tears as she started crying, before beating a hasty retreat from the house.

"Hope I didn't get here too late, you guys," Shoko stated.

"You might have arrived just in time, Shoko," Yuuki answered. "I really thought she was just going to... I don't know, _explode_ or something."

"Maybe with all of us vouching for what really happened, she finally realized how pointless that whole 'trying to kill us for a crime we never actually committed' thing was," Nick proclaimed.

"I'm just glad it ended without having to lay _too_ much of a smackdown on her," Katelyn admitted. "I'm sure you guys are sick of trouble constantly finding you."

"Tell me about it," Nick groaned. "I'd _really_ like to forget the floor forty-four boss fight ever happened..."

"I'm honestly surprised you're still smarting over that," Shoko admitted.

"Shoko, do you have any idea, _any idea at all_ , of how much I wanted to _shank_ practically _everybody_ in that raid party that wasn't us?" Nick proclaimed. "Those were the idiots who decided to spread those nasty rumors that I was cheating on Yuuki, after all!"

"Hey, it was fun watching you intimidate them, though," Katelyn stated. "Especially that one burly Gnome, cracking under the pressure of a Spriggan barely even half his size! That's _easily_ one of the highlights of my time in ALO."

As the group reminisced, Ann continued to run down the early night streets of Yokohama, not even truly caring where she was going in her grief-induced state.

Her first love was dead.

Ann _still_ didn't want to accept it, but with at least four people who had been there to vouch for what had happened, she knew she couldn't deny the truth any longer.

The only question was... what now?

"I guess... there's only one thing I _can_ do," Ann proclaimed, having found her way back to her current residence. Knowing exactly where to look for what she needed, Ann moved up the stairway and to the closet in her room, opening the doors and gazing down to the closet floor.

Resting there on the carpeted floor was a NerveGear unit, the very same that had trapped her in Sword Art Online, much like Akira. She had been allowed to keep hers in a strictly off-the-books way by mentioning she wanted to do research on it, like Akira had been doing.

 _I'll be joining you soon, Akira,_ Ann thought as she picked up the NerveGear and moved it to the desk at the far right of her room. She debated internally on whether or not to just get it over with right here and now, but quickly came to a conclusion.

 _...no. I'm not going to just end it like that. No. They need to see for themselves what they've done to me. Even if they didn't actually kill him, they made me suffer. Because they drove him to suicide._

Her mind made up and her resolve steeled, Ann tucked her NerveGear under her arm and left her room, knowing that her mother was still sleeping and wouldn't hear her (she slept like a rock, anyway).

 _And I'll make them suffer before my time is up. I swear it._

Ann began to retrace her steps, knowing that one of them would be dead by the end of this.

 _Three days later, Floor 48: Lindarth, entrance to the Smithy Cavern..._

"Well, that was certainly an experience," Nick quipped as he and Lisbeth exited the metal-lined cavern and returned to the main Lindarth town.

"Yeah, but at least we got some sweet crafting materials from this place!" Lisbeth giggled. "I can make some _awesome_ weapons with these babies!"

Nick and Lisbeth had teamed up to explore a dungeon on floor 48 while Yuuki and Siune were off on a rather "personal mission", Yuuki's words. Nick suspected that they wanted to go pay respects to the rest of the Sleeping Knights, who had succumbed to their illnesses over the course of the past couple years. Of the original Sleeping Knights, only Yuuki and Siune were still alive.

Nick still wondered why Lisbeth had recruited him in particular for this dungeon run. She had told him that she needed a partner for the ultra-rare material she was questing for to spawn, but he still didn't understand why she had picked _him_ of all people.

"The boss was definitely interesting," Nick admitted. "I wasn't expecting it to bust out all those different _heads_ during his final phase!"

"That mask one was really annoying, considering it kept switching to it to tank our attacks whenever we had a super move ready!" Lisbeth exclaimed. "Talk about trolling..."

"No kidding," Nick quipped. "Hey, Liz? Question. Why, exactly, did you pick _me_ to come with you on this quest?"

"I'd think it was obvious," Lisbeth responded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Since Yuuki's out with her friend, I figured I'd keep ya company until they get back. You _are_ my buddy, after all. I meant what I said back then."

" _I've said it before, and I'll say it again," Nick responded. "I really do have the best friends ever."_

" _And that includes us now, you hear me?" Rika teased. "We risked our butts to save you, so that means you owe us big time, buddy!"_

" _Rika, seriously, don't go there..." Asuna sighed._

" _Oh, he knows I'm just teasing him," Rika laughed. "Seriously, though, if you ever need our help, just call us, okay, Nick? We'll be there faster than you can say 'Starburst Stream'!"_

"After all, friends look out for each other, right?" Lisbeth giggled.

"True that," Nick replied. "Hey, speaking of which..."

"Say no more!" Lisbeth proclaimed, knowing exactly what Nick had wanted to ask. "Just follow me to the shop and I'll make you something you'll remember _forever_!"

With that, Nick and Lisbeth made their way through Lindarth back to the Lisbeth Smithy Shop, unaware that Ann was observing them from afar.

 _Well, this is it, then,_ Ann thought. _Now I will make them understand what they caused me._

"Et voila!" Lisbeth proclaimed, landing the finishing blow on the glowing metal beneath her and watching it transform into a brand new one-handed sword with a curved blade and decorated with stars all over. "I dub it 'Star Seeker'!"

"Excellent work as always, Liz," Nick responded, reaching down to claim the Star Seeker as his, noting that its Combo Trait (a special ability chosen at random for specially-forged weapons, something that had been added as of the floor forty-five update) was a big boost to the damage of aerial attacks.

Nick swiped through his menu to equip Liberty Bell in his right hand and Star Seeker in his left hand, swinging both swords one after the other to practice his dual wielding motions. Katelyn had been badgering him to try and learn how to dual wield, but Nick's biggest hurdle had been learning how to get Skill Connect to work properly for him.

"Hey, you're a natural at dual-wielding!" Lisbeth laughed.

"Yeah, but I don't think I'll ever be as good as Kirito at it," Nick admitted. "I mean, Katie said it took a month and a half, possibly _longer_ , of constant studying of that video footage just to get Kirito's Starburst Stream down pat..."

"Hey, you'll get good at it eventually, I know it," Lisbeth stated. "Just gotta put in the work!"

"Thanks again for the awesome weapon, Liz," Nick stated. "And... thanks for keeping me company today."

"Like I said, it's no problem! We're friends, after all!" Lisbeth proudly proclaimed.

"I really am lucky to have so many wonderful friends, aren't I?" Nick quipped as he returned the Star Seeker to his inventory for the moment.

"Um, _duh_ , you've been saying that for the last four or five years now, right?" Lisbeth giggled as Nick exited the shop...

...only to encounter Ann standing there, still looking quite remorseful, but at the same time, a strange determination was highlighting her expression.

"And just what are _you_ doing back here?" Nick growled, immediately re-summoning Star Seeker and brandishing both Star Seeker and Liberty Bell.

"I guess you should count your lucky stars that I'm not here to fight you," Ann stated. "I just came here to deliver a warning."

"And what warning would _that_ be?" Lisbeth proclaimed, hefting her mace and pointing it straight for Ann.

"By the end of this... there _will_ be blood on your hands," Ann stated rather haughtily before immediately swiping through her menu to log out.

Nick and Lisbeth glanced at each other, easily confused by what Ann was talking about.

"Did that make _any_ sense to you?" Lisbeth asked.

"Not a bit," Nick quipped.

Though, deep in his mind, something felt off to Nick. Why did Ann say there'd be blood on _his_ hands when he hadn't...

For one horrifying moment, Nick's thoughts were still.

Then, the realization hit him with all the force of a crashing airplane.

"N-Nick? Is everything okay?" Lisbeth asked when she saw Nick's expression changing to one of horror.

"I have to go, Liz," Nick proclaimed, quickly opening his menu. "Go find Yuuki and tell her to log out _on the double_."

"Wait, why are you..."

Then, the implications hit Lisbeth as well, and she immediately bolted from her shop to go find Yuuki and relay the message.

Nick accepted the logout prompt, hoping that he wouldn't be too late.

Back in the real world, Nick wasted no time in wrenching his Amusphere off of his head and placing it by Yuuki, who was still in ALO, before dashing downstairs with all the speed he could muster.

To his surprise, Ann was standing in the living room, a few feet away from a very frightened Heidi. And she was clutching a NerveGear in her hands, her personal Amusphere lying discarded on the floor.

"I told you," Ann proclaimed. "I _told you_ that there would be blood on your hands by the end of all of this."

"Ann?" Nick started. "Where, exactly, did you get a _NerveGear_?!"

"I've kept it secret for so long," Ann explained. "Akira wanted to work on my NerveGear for his project, but I insisted he use his own. And we all saw how _that_ ended..."

Nick tensed up, having just figured out what Ann was planning to do with her NerveGear. He knew the only reason he hadn't been killed by Akira's NerveGear after his loss to Nanako was because that NerveGear had been heavily modified by Akira and Makoto.

But if Ann's NerveGear was still the same as it was during the SAO Incident...

"Ann, don't do this," Nick stated. "This isn't what he would have wanted."

"HOW THE FUCK WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT HE WOULD HAVE WANTED?!" Ann screamed, causing Heidi to jump back out of reflexive fear. "You drove him to his death! It's _your fault_ he's even gone!"

"How does _any of that_ make sense?!" Nick shot back. "I wasn't even in control of my own _body_ when he jumped! I didn't even know he'd done it until after I got my body back!"

"What does it matter?!" Ann growled. "You're the reason he's dead, you son of a bitch. His blood already stains your hands."

Ann lifted the NerveGear over her head. "And soon, so will my blood."

Nick practically _leaped_ forward and threw a right hook into Ann's face, sending her tumbling backwards and causing her to drop her NerveGear.

"Don't be a dipshit, Ann," Nick stated. "I'm not letting you end it like this."

"Shut up!" Ann shouted, quickly jumping back up. "SHUT UP! YOU'RE A HEARTLESS MONSTER!"

Ann lunged forward with a flying kick, but Nick reached out to grab her leg and slam her back into the ground.

Not content with that, Nick attempted to lift her back up, but Ann lashed out with an uppercut, knocking Nick a few steps back so that Ann could regain her footing and charge for him, grabbing him by his shirt collar and smashing him into the nearby wall multiple times.

"You'll pay in _blood_ for what you did to him!" Ann exclaimed.

"Get _off_ of him!"

Ann glanced upwards just in time to see Katelyn leaping over the stair banister to fall down to the ground floor and pounce on Ann, allowing Nick to escape her frenzied grasp.

Katelyn spun around to Ann's back and hooked her arms around her back in order to suplex Ann backwards into the kitchen.

"You're _not_ hurting my best friend while I'm around, you crazy nutjob!" Katelyn proclaimed.

Katelyn moved to pin Ann to the ground, only for Ann to kick her feet out and push Katelyn away so Ann could get back on her feet and charge back into the living room to retrieve her NerveGear.

"Just try and stop me!" Ann shouted, running up the stairway.

"I swear, if you _even_..." Nick growled, charging after Ann with Katelyn in pursuit.

When they'd gotten back to the room in question, Ann was standing right next to the window, having already placed the NerveGear on her head.

"Ann, stop!" Nick and Katelyn shouted together.

"I hope you're happy with what you've caused," Ann proclaimed. "LINK START!"

With that, Ann lost consciousness and fell to the ground, her mind already on its way to ALO.

"Crap! Don't tell me we're too late?!" Nick exclaimed, leaning over to retrieve his Amusphere.

"Whoa, whoa, Nick, what's going on?!" Katelyn asked. "You're not gonna _save_ that bitch, are you?!"

"I don't want any more blood on my hands, Katie," Nick explained. "If I can save someone from a pointless death, then I'll do whatever I can. Watch over us until we get back, okay?"

"You know it," Katelyn responded without hesitation.

 _Meanwhile, in ALfheim Online, floor 24, Panareze..._

"And, well, that's the story," Yuuki finished, standing by 'her' tree in Panareze, where she and Siune had made little tributes to the Sleeping Knights that had passed, each of their weapons stuck in the ground around the tree.

"I really wish you guys could have been here to see this," Yuuki admitted. "I know Nori would be freaking out at some of the awesome things we've seen since you all left."

Yuuki looked up at the tree's branches, where the Sleeping Knight's headbands were tied to. "I hope you guys are all having fun with each other in whatever grand adventure you've all found yourself on. I kinda feel bad now that Siune and I are going to outlive you, but..."

Yuuki reached up to dry a tear before it could fall. "...I know you guys would want me to live my new life to the fullest. That's what Nick always says to me, after all."

"YUUKI, WATCH OUT!"

Yuuki decided to follow Siune's advice and leaped away to avoid a vicious stab from Ann's rapier.

"I'm only saying this once, Ann," Yuuki proclaimed as she unsheathed Element Saber. "This is _not_ the time _or_ the place to be doing this."

"Ask me if I care, you selfish little _bitch_ ," Ann growled.

"Oh, _I'm_ the selfish one?!" Yuuki shot back. "You're the one who keeps insisting on this pointless struggle!"

"Don't you _dare_ mock me," Ann proclaimed before stabbing at Yuuki again, then again and again, even as Yuuki dodged each stab easily.

"Ann, listen to me!" Yuuki shouted.

"SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH!" Ann screamed, swinging her rapier for Yuuki's head, only for the Absolute Sword to counter the strike and slash at Ann's chest.

"I guess we're doing this the hard way, then," Yuuki responded. "Apparently, you just refuse to listen to me. Well, don't say I didn't warn you."

"I don't _have_ to listen to unrepentant _monsters_ like you," Ann replied. "Honestly, I'm surprised you survived this long."

"I was actually cured, if that's what you're implying," Yuuki responded, readying Element Saber for a fight.

"Maybe you _should_ have died!" Ann growled. "That disease should have _ended_ you! That would have been a suitable penance for you!"

One look at the fury that was suddenly blazing in Yuuki's eyes was all the incentive that Siune needed to slowly back away.

"You know what? Not even death is good enough for you!" Ann proclaimed.

In her gloating, Ann hadn't been paying attention to Yuuki readying a sword skill and could only stand her ground as Yuuki proceeded to rapidly drain Ann's health with Mother's Rosario.

"Who are _you_ to tell me how my life should go?!" Yuuki shouted, continuing her furious attack even after Mother's Rosario had ended. "That's _precisely_ what I've been trying to _avoid_ for years now!"

Unbeknownst to Yuuki, Ann was actually pleased that Yuuki continued to ravage her avatar with a flurry of different sword skills. Not much longer at this rate, and it would finally be over.

"I've fought so hard against fate, and you just want me to accept my fate like _that_?!" Yuuki exclaimed, hitting Ann with a Sharp Nail followed by a Drop Dash. "Well, guess what?! Fate doesn't control me anymore, and _neither will you_!"

Yuuki unleashed Nova Ascension, slashing four times in different directions at Ann's body before leaping to deliver four more strikes from the air. These four strikes each caused a shockwave to expand outwards from the slash. Finally, Yuuki dropped back down to viciously stab Element Saber forward, causing Ann to crash back into the tree.

 _Just one more hit..._ Ann thought. Her health was down to only a few hit points after Yuuki's unrelenting assault. _Do it, Zekken. Finish me off._

"Now _beat it_ ," Yuuki proclaimed. "Don't make me destroy you."

"What?" Ann taunted. "Don't you have the _guts_ , you _murderer_?!"

Before Yuuki could respond to that, a sphere of green light surrounded Ann's body, completely restoring her health bar to full.

"W-what?!" Ann gasped. "Who did that?!"

"That would be me, Ann," Nick responded, skidding to a stop by Yuuki's side. "You're _not_ ending it like this."

"How dare you?!" Ann screamed, her voice going slightly hoarse from all of her shouting. "I don't _want_ to be saved, _least_ of all by _you_!"

"Um... Nick? What's she talking about?" Yuuki wondered.

"Yuuki, I've got a lot to explain about all of this, but the long and short of it is this," Nick proclaimed. "Right now, Ann's in our room, and she's wearing a NerveGear."

"A _NerveGear_?!" Yuuki exclaimed. She'd hoped to never have to deal with one of those things again after the trouble that Akira had given them.

"She wanted you to kill her avatar so that the NerveGear would fry her brain and kill her IRL," Nick continued. "She wants to commit suicide in a way that would put the blame on us."

"Ann, have you lost your mind?!" Yuuki exclaimed, turning her gaze back on Ann. "You _know_ that this isn't going to help _anything_!"

"What do you murderers know about love?!" Ann shot back, tears beginning to fall. "All you care about is yourself!"

Before Nick could object to that, Ann raised her rapier into the air, flipped it into reverse-grip, then, before Nick or Yuuki could make a move to stop her, thrust the blade of the rapier into her chest, causing her health to rapidly deplete.

Siune immediately raised her staff to cast a healing spell, but too late, as in the middle of the chant, Ann's health bar drained completely.

"There," Ann gasped, her voice weak and crackly. "Live with the guilt, murderers."

With that, Ann had spoken her last, her avatar exploding into glowing polygons that quickly evaporated into nothing.

Nick and Yuuki instantly opened their menus to logout, Yuuki glancing at Siune with a hopeful expression. Siune just nodded, knowing what they had to do.

One quick flash later, Nick and Yuuki were back in their room, expecting the worst.

What they didn't expect was seeing Ann slowly rise to her feet, clutching at her NerveGear in honest confusion.

"What? What is _this_?" Ann gasped. "Why... why am I not dead?"

"Honestly, that's what _I'm_ wondering, too," Nick admitted.

"Maybe..." Katelyn interjected. "Maybe that whole 'NerveGear fries your brain if your avatar dies' thing was only meant to work with Sword Art Online."

"Damn it!" Ann shouted. "Damn it! GODDAMN IT ALL!"

Ann wrenched the NerveGear off of her head and tossed it straight into the nearby wall before falling to her knees and beginning to cry harder than she had when she'd learned Akira was dead.

"Damn it... why am I being denied what I want?" Ann sobbed. "Why is the world so cruel?!"

Yuuki glanced at Nick, silently conveying what she wanted to do. Nick responded with a simple nod, and with permission granted, Yuuki walked over to Ann.

"What do you want?" Ann cried. "Are you just going to mock me now? Tell me I _deserve_ this?!"

Yuuki simply shook her head, before bending down on her own knees, and, much to the crying woman's shock, embraced Ann tightly.

Ann's grief-stricken mind couldn't comprehend why Yuuki was hugging her after everything she'd said to her and Nick, everything she'd tried to do to them, including _multiple attempts to kill them._

"Ann, I know what it feels like to lose someone you love," Yuuki explained. "I lost my entire family. My sister, my parents, all of them. I lost most of my comrades in the Sleeping Knights. So yes, I know how you feel."

Yuuki squeezed Ann a little tighter, hoping to get through to her before it was too late. "Please believe me, Ann. I _tried_ to stop Akira from killing himself. Despite everything he put me through, I didn't want his story to end like that. I tried to save him, I really did."

"Then... why did you..." Ann gasped. Eventually, even words began to fail her, and Ann finally returned Yuuki's embrace, desperately clinging to the Absolute Sword as if her life depended on it.

"Ann, listen to me, okay?" Yuuki continued. "I know you're grieving. I know you're in pain. But think of it this way. Akira wouldn't want you to be sad for the rest of your life. He'd want you to move on, be happy, live your life. That's how I'm doing all right, despite all the people I've lost. I never let that get me down, because they'd want me to stay strong. I'm not saying you can't grieve for him, Ann, but please, for the love of criminy, don't do it like _this_."

Yuuki continued to hold Ann in her arms until the older woman had reasonably calmed down, even if the flow of tears didn't stop.

"You doing okay?" Yuuki asked.

"Oh, _god_ , Yuuki," Ann sobbed. "What have I done? Did I _really_ let myself get consumed by my pain and rage?"

"That's _exactly_ what happened to Akira," Katelyn proclaimed. "All he wanted was to do something for somebody he loved, but he fell deep into obsession over it. That's why we were trying to dissuade you from that path, Ann, because we didn't want you to make the same mistakes that he did."

"Akira started walking down a dark road, and he refused to let up on that path," Yuuki continued. "And he paid the ultimate price for falling to the darkness. We didn't want the same thing to happen to you."

"My god, I almost did the same damn thing?" Ann asked. "I... I really am no different from Akira..."

"Hey, there's one major difference between you and Akira in this," Nick responded. "You're still here. You didn't completely fall to the darkness, so we were able to pull you out of it just in time."

"And, hey, we'll pull you out of the darkness as many times as we need to, okay?" Yuuki stated.

"I... I just... I loved him so much," Ann cried. "I really wanted to meet him again after we escaped Sword Art Online, but my family and I moved out of the city after I had finished my therapy. We kept in touch even while he and Makoto were working on Nanako's AI, but when Makoto told me that Akira was dead, I didn't know what to think. At first, I didn't want to believe that he was gone. But when I heard your names when he mentioned everything that happened on that telegraph tower..."

Ann moved her hand to dry a few of her tears. Yuuki never let go of her. "...I think that's where I first fell. My mind just automatically assumed that you two were responsible for his death, and I... I refused to listen to reason. I was filled with such _rage_ , directed at someone who... wasn't even _the reason he died..._ "

Ann broke down again, clutching Yuuki tightly as if she was afraid to let go. "Oh, god, Akira, why did you do it?!" Ann cried. "Why did you just _leave me_ like that?! It wasn't worth it! I... I..."

Ann couldn't speak anymore, her strangled voice collapsing into sobs of grief and despair. Yuuki knew what Ann must be feeling right now, since, however brief, it had been the exact way she'd felt when she thought she was going to lose Nick to Akira and Makoto's schemes.

Yuuki remembered the conversation she'd had with Nick when they'd gone stargazing, about how all of her supposed "friends" always ditched her when they found out she had AIDS, how Asuna had allowed her to open up to people again, how she'd initially been scared that Nick would leave her as well when he found out.

And her seemingly infinite happiness when Nick had stayed with her, merely opting to make the most of the time they had together.

The despair she'd vowed to fight, clawing away at her soul when Akira had told her what his project was meant to do...

So yes, Yuuki knew the despair that Ann was feeling. And if she could prevent her from falling back into that despair?

Well, Yuuki would definitely consider that a victory on her part.

"I'm... oh, god, I'm _so sorry_ , Yuuki," Ann sobbed, still holding Yuuki tightly. "What kind of monster am I?!"

"Hey, hey, you're not a monster, Ann," Yuuki answered. "You're just hurting over losing someone you loved. And that's perfectly fine. Just don't let that pain take control of you."

Yuuki stood up, slowly bringing Ann with her and keeping her steady in case of another breakdown.

"I'll... I definitely won't make _that_ mistake again," Ann admitted, wiping the last of her tears with her sleeve. "I guess I can consider myself lucky that I have people that'll stick up for me when I'm in a bad place."

"Akira and Souji weren't so lucky, unfortunately," Katelyn cut in.

"Can you _ever_ forgive me for what I did?" Ann asked.

Yuuki took a step forward and hugged Ann again. "Does that answer your question?" Yuuki giggled.

Nick and Katelyn couldn't help but smile at Yuuki's forwardness. That was just how she was.

"I'd better beat it before any more awkward questions have to be answered," Ann admitted. "I'm pretty sure your mother was wondering just what the hell was going on."

"Good idea," Katelyn responded. "I'll try to smooth everything out. Meanwhile, don't you two have something to do in ALO?"

"Oh, yeah!" Yuuki exclaimed. "Come on, Nick, let's get back there!"

At first, Nick was confused, until he remembered that they had planned to practice their vows in Floria after Yuuki had returned from Panareze. Nick attributed it to the thought being temporarily chased out of his mind thanks to Ann's interference.

"Right-o," Nick quipped as they laid down on their bed to re-don their Amuspheres. Ann stepped out of the room, deciding that now was definitely the time to leave them be.

 _Four days later, somewhere in Yokohama..._

Despite everything, despite all of the practice and recitals, Nick was still nervous.

He had every right to be, as he was still waiting for Yuuki to show up.

"Dude, stop pacing around so much," Katelyn laughed. "You're gonna wear out the floor."

"First off, it's made of marble, Katie," Nick quipped as he paused his pacing to adjust the tie on his tuxedo, still wondering who invented these dastardly things. "Second, I don't know what else to do..."

"You're just impatient, that's all," Shoko giggled.

Nick glanced around the chapel that the wedding was being held at, once again doing an internal count of who was here. It wasn't meant to be a particularly spectacular ceremony, as Nick didn't want to overwhelm himself (as he was kind of doing now).

Pretty much all of their friends from ALfheim Online were there. Alongside a bunch of their fellow classmates from the SAO Survivor's Academy (Nick had been flustered when so many of them had thanked him for saving their lives during Souji's attack four years ago) the group consisted of Kazuto, Asuna (who Yuuki had asked to be the Maid of Honor), Yui via Kazuto's Bidirectional Communication Probe, Keiko, Ryotaro (who had been surprised when Nick had asked him to be Best Man), Rika, Suguha, Andrew, Shino, Katelyn, Shoko, Siune, and even Makoto and Ann. Only the bride herself was still absent, but Nick knew it was only a matter of time.

Ann was honestly quite surprised that Nick and Yuuki had invited her to the wedding after everything that had happened, but kept telling herself not to dwell on the past.

"Well, this is one of those things I never expected," Nick stated.

"Hey, you're the one who proposed to her, silly," Katelyn giggled.

"Katie, I swear..."

Nick's tirade was thankfully interrupted by the ringing of the church bells, which could only mean one thing.

 _Showtime,_ Nick thought as he stood at attention.

As the chapel doors slowly opened, Nick couldn't help but glimpse ahead, trying to get a good look at his soon-to-be bride.

And what he saw there almost literally stole his breath away.

 **("Prelude ~FFRK Wedding ver.~" by Yuko Komiyama plays)**

Yuuki stepped into the church, her wedding dress a mix of white and purple (it was her favorite color, after all), and being guided by Asuna's mother Kyoko, who had been touched when Asuna had asked her if she would give Yuuki away at the wedding. Over the last few years, they had managed to mostly mend their formerly-strained relationship, and it was all thanks to Yuuki giving Asuna the strength she had desperately needed.

 _Mom, dad, I know you two are watching,_ Nick thought. _One last time, I gotta thank you both for prodding me to talk to Yuuki that day. Otherwise, who knows how this story might have gone?_

Nick clamped down on all of his lingering nerves as Yuuki joined him at the altar. At long last, it was time.

Yuuki flashed Nick a smile to calm his nerves as the priest stepped up to the podium to give his usual spiel.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness these two being joined together in holy matrimony," the priest proclaimed.

 _Get on with it,_ Nick thought.

 _Yes, get on with it!_ Yuuki thought, almost as if she was reading Nick's own thoughts.

After about a minute of the speech, the priest finally reached the first part of what everyone here was waiting for.

"The couple has written their own vows, which they will now recite to each other," the priest proclaimed, with a slight chuckle at the end as he noticed how impatient some of the people in the crowd were. After all, he knew that he said these same things for every wedding he was asked to perform.

Nick and Yuuki turned to stare at each other, nothing but overflowing love in their eyes.

 **("Shirushi" by LiSA plays)**

"My life has been one large question mark ever since I was born," Yuuki started. "Always one question after another. But the one question I always asked myself was... well, how long would I be around? I know it's not exactly the _happiest_ thing to be talking about at a wedding, but there were a lot of people that taught me that I should live my life the way _I_ want to, with absolutely no regrets. Aiko always wanted the best for me. Merida gave me courage. Asuna taught me to always hold my head high and learn to trust in the people who love me."

A blush adorned Yuuki's cheeks as she continued. "And then there's you, Nick. I know I've said it a lot in the past few years, but I'm so unbelievably happy that you stayed with me. I never expected to fall in love, especially with my limited time, but you came in and shattered my expectations. And now that I'm finally free to live my life, you can definitely bet that I'm going to spend all of it with the boy who touched my heart."

Nick fought back his nervousness, knowing that it was now his turn. "Yuuki, you, of all the people I've had the pleasure of knowing in my life, should understand this one simple fact: I don't believe in fate. I've always believed in the ideal of shaping one's own destiny with their own hands and not conforming to what others _think_ you should be. It's something that mom and dad drilled into my head my whole life."

Nick took Yuuki's hands into his own as he continued. "Even so, I don't really think it was mere coincidence that I met you. Honestly, I think it was dad's fault, since he was the one who insisted I talk to you and, well, 'not stare'. But, in all truth, I'm so glad I decided to take his advice. You're a wonderful girl, Yuuki, so full of life. But, if you want my honest opinion..."

Yuuki wondered what Nick was going to say, as this hadn't been part of their practice vows.

"...I've never said this until now, but my favorite thing about you, Yuuki, is that, at least to me, you epitomize my family's ideal of not succumbing to fate. There was a word that my grandfather always used when discussing that trait. It was 'nankurunaisa', basically 'everything will work out in the end'. And that really stuck with me."

Nick couldn't help but smile even as tears began to well up in Yuuki's eyes. "Yuuki, I know it may seem hard to believe at times, but I'm so happy I met you. I'm so happy that I got to fall in love with, and that you felt the same way. But, in the end, I'm just glad that I can hold you now. And I promise you this, Yuuki Konno. I will never, _ever_ let you go."

"The rings, please," the priest stated. Nick and Yuuki reached out to slide the rings on their respective fingers.

"If anyone here objects to the union of this couple, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."

Complete and utter silence. _Is that line really necessary?_ Nick thought. _If anyone objected, they most likely wouldn't be here. Eh, probably just tradition._

The priest smiled himself after about thirty seconds before turning back to the couple. "Very well, then. Nick Kelly, do you take Yuuki Konno to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, in suffering and in happiness, until death do you part?"

"I do," Nick proclaimed.

"And do you, Yuuki Konno, take Nick Kelly to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, in suffering and in happiness, until death do you part?"

"I do," Yuuki responded, adding her next line in a whisper that only Nick could hear. "Just as long as you don't give me any more colds."

Nick couldn't help but silently chuckle at _that_ disaster of a weekend.

The priest raised his hands for the part everyone in attendance was waiting for.

"Then by the power vested in me in the city of Yokohama, I now officially pronounce you husband and wife. You may, _finally_ , kiss the bride."

 **("Yume no Sekai" by Haruka Tomatsu plays)**

After a quick laugh (since Nick knew that the priest could easily sense his never-ending impatience), Nick surprised Yuuki by reaching out to pull her towards him and kiss her with all the passion and love he'd kept in until this moment when it was finally allowed to burst. Yuuki returned the kiss in kind, and for a few short moments, they were the only two people in the world. The rapturous applause faded from their minds for just a few precious seconds.

Sadly, the moment ended by way of a flying Katelyn, who took that precise moment to throw herself at Nick, sending them both crashing to the floor.

"ACK! Katie, what the hell?!" Nick exclaimed.

"You did it, Nick! _You actually did it!_ " Katelyn squealed.

"Um, Katie, I'm happy that you're happy, but could you kindly stop glomping my _husband_ , please?" Yuuki sighed.

"Sorry, sorry," Katelyn quipped, hopping right to her feet. "I'm just so freakin' happy! My best buddy's finally hitched! Oh, it's a _momentous_ day! EEP!"

That last "EEP" was brought on by Shoko walking up and dragging Katelyn back down the rest of the group by her ear. "If you don't mind, Katie, how about you save some of that boundless energy for the reception?" Shoko proclaimed.

Soon, the wedding reception was in full swing, with Silica actually showing off quite the lovely singing voice (she'd gotten much better at singing since the Ordinal Scale incident, no thanks to Rika's constant teasing) in singing a song for the newlyweds.

Despite it all, Nick continued to reminisce about the past.

After all, all of this had only happened because he'd noticed Yuuki being wheeled by while he was walking back with his father that day.

" _Hey, Nick, what's got you so entranced?"_

" _ACK, did you see that, dad?! ...ugh, I'm just glad mom didn't. She'd never give up on it."_

" _Well, if you're interested, why don't you go talk to her? You never know what'll happen unless you try, right?"_

Nick often found it interesting how one seemingly insignificant event could change the entire outcome of an event. But he didn't want to think about what would have happened if he hadn't done what he had that day.

"What'cha thinking about, Nick?" Yuuki asked.

"Oh, you know, everything I usually think about," Nick answered.

"Well, I am, too," Yuuki admitted. "I've told you that I have a pretty vivid imagination, right? I've been thinking about so many other possibilities for how our lives could have gone. Like, maybe we were fighting what was left of those Death Gun wackos, or maybe we were stuck in Sword Art Online, fighting for our lives. You wanna know the one thing all of these fantasies of mine have in common, Nick?"

"What's that?"

Yuuki smiled at Nick, causing his heart to flutter. That was the smile he had fallen in love with, after all.

"They all had _you_ in them, Nick," Yuuki answered. "I won't _ever_ think of what would have happened if we'd never met. That's too cliché for its own good. How about we just focus on the here and now?"

Nick returned Yuuki's smile, taking her hand in an obvious invitation. "I'll keep that in mind. Now, since we're the couple of the hour, may I have the pleasure of asking you for a dance?"

"Just a warning, I've kinda got two left feet," Yuuki giggled. "Of all the things I can easily do thanks to all the full-diving I've done, dancing is _not_ one of them."

"That makes two of us," Nick laughed. "I'm not much better at dancing, but let's just make it up as we go along."

"Fine by me!" Yuuki proclaimed.

And as they danced, the newlyweds couldn't help but think back on everything they'd fought through to get to this point.

Katelyn being controlled by Souji.

Souji going on a killing spree because he couldn't let go of his pain.

Nick losing his parents to Souji's madness.

Akira and Makoto attempting to bodyjack Nick to bring back a lost loved one.

Ann trying to take revenge for losing someone she loved.

Yuuki fighting against the disease that was trying to claim her life.

Despite everything, they'd emerged victorious in the end. They'd fought seemingly impossible odds to get here.

And, somehow, here they were.

Finally joined in marriage, ready to take life by the horns.

Katelyn and Shoko had to crack a smile while watching Nick and Yuuki dancing like any newly-married couple would.

"You're not bitter?" Shoko asked.

"Not a bit," Katelyn answered. "I'm happy for them both."

"That's good to hear," Shoko replied. "I'm so happy I was wrong about my initial impressions of you."

Katelyn laughed, only to freeze up slightly when Shoko leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

Despite her sudden blush, Katelyn understood Shoko's intent. There were no hard feelings between either of them.

Shoko leaned into Katelyn, resting her head on the slightly taller girl's shoulder, and continued to watch everyone have fun.

"Nick?"

"Yeah?"

Yuuki stopped moving, only to lean closer to Nick.

"I love you."

Nick smiled, leaning forward as well.

"I love you, too, Yuuki."

And their lips met halfway.

Everything around them seemed to fade away. Just like it had at the altar, all that seemed to exist in this moment was the two of them.

And they wouldn't have it any other way.

 _~Sword Art Online: Memory Rosario re:~  
_ _~The End~_


End file.
